


Elementia High

by PhoenixRose22



Category: Banana Bus Squad
Genre: AU, Blood and Injury, Depression?, Fanfic, Fantasy, Fluff, Forget-Me-Not, Gods and Goddesses, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, I Ship It, Immortal, M/M, Mutant Powers, Rebirth, Secrets, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:02:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27417709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoenixRose22/pseuds/PhoenixRose22
Summary: Elementia High. A school where people with special powers went to train and practice, honing their abilities to the best they can be. A school where they weren’t weird, but special and wanted. This was the place kids could be themselves without the judging eyes of the normal worldNo one knows who it was created by, or why it was created. Only that it existed past a shining sea green forest, sitting atop a hill surrounded by a spring green meadow. It was a safe haven for all those who were different.At least, for a little while.
Relationships: Brock Barrus/Brian Hanby, Craig Thompson/Tyler | I AM WILDCAT, Evan Fong/Jonathan | H2ODelirious, Luke Patterson/Ryan | Ohmwrecker, Marcel | BasicallyIdoWrk/Scotty | fourzer0seven
Comments: 2
Kudos: 22





	1. Nature’s Son

**Author's Note:**

> Yes, I know about Craig. This story was from before I knew about all that and I didn’t feel like taking him out... he’s really minor anyway, so don’t worry about it too much
> 
> Also, this story is just for fun. All the people portrayed in this story might not have exactly the same personalities as in real life. (That’s really hard to do anyway) The relationships they have in real life are amazing and cool (Lauren is great) and I wouldn’t want that to change. Please take this story as a grain of salt :3

(The first chapter will be a little short since it’s kind of like a prologue)

Brock Gaius, son of Mother Nature, Mother Earth and whatever other names people gave her, sat on a speeding train. His mother sent him to this school called Elementia High to manifest his special powers inherited from her. 

The scenery passed by tediously, putting him into a trance, and to be honest, made him kinda dizzy. Many other kids sat around him, all parents probably having the same goal as his. Brock stared at his lap, half expecting a hole to burn through his legs because of how long he was staring at them. He lost track of time that way. Muffled chatter kept him from completely zoning out, but also made him want to. Everyone seemed to have someone to talk to, someone to be close to, except him. He sat alone with empty seats surrounding him, too shy to get up and sit next to someone. Even when they stopped to pick up more kids, no one even bothered to look his way.

Brock’s head sadly bumped into the window, a vibration resounding through his body with the rumbling of the train. The train was at the last stop of the day before finally heading to the school. There were at least twenty stops, but who’s counting? The new kids filed onto the train cars chattering like squirrels fighting over nuts for the winter. Brock groaned quietly and pressed his face further into the window. It was now dusk and the sky was slowly turning it’s midnight blues with the bright colors of the sun disappearing under the horizon. He just hoped these people would be quiet by the time it was dark. He drummed his fingers on his thighs, waiting for the train to go. Then some random kid came and sat next to him along with someone else who sat across from Brock. He was both confused and slightly happy.

“Hi. My name is Lui and this is Delirious,” The first boy said. He was wearing a red jacket and his dark brown hair was tied up in a bun with the sides shaved off. When he smiled, dimples were prominent on his caramel cheeks. The one across from Brock waved. He had on a light blue hoodie and a hockey mask, piercing blue eyes staring at him through the eye holes. Black hair peeked up from above the mask, while pale skin poked from the sides. Black gauges sat snugly in his earlobes, looking extremely uncomfortable.“What’s your name?”

“Uh… my name is Moo or Brock, whatever you choose,” He mumbled shyly. “Nice to meet you…”

“Nice to meet you too!” Lui’s voice turned high pitched and made the other boy, Delirious, laugh a maniacal sounding laugh. Brock smiled, chuckling quietly. People could be so weird sometimes.

“Anyway, what’s your power?” Lui asked enthusiastically. Moo was stunned for a second.

“Uh, it’s the power of nature and healing,” Brock said, twiddling his thumbs nervously. He was always like this around new people. “Pretty boring if you ask me.”

“That’s not boring at all! My power is controlling water,” Delirious exclaimed. “My powers are boring-er than yours!”

“Boring-er?” Moo questioned. The train lurched into its forward march again.

“Excuse his illiterate ass,” Lui sighed. “He really needs to take an English class.”

“Hey! I speak perfect engrish.” Delirious pouted and his mistake made Brock laugh out loud. Lui laughed along with me, high pitched and loud. Delirious seemed to realize what he just said because he too burst out laughing with wheezes sprinkled through. They must’ve looked like crazy people seeing how long and loud we were laughing.

“Hey, Lui, what’s your power?” Brock asked breathlessly, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.

“Oh, it’s the power of the wild.” He answered.

“Power of the wild?” Moo tilted his head like a puppy.

“It’s where you can control animals and stuff.” 

“Wow! That’s cool.” 

“Yeah, but it gets kinda boring after a while.” He turned and zipped open the bag on his back. Immediately, a little head poked out from the hole and squeaked at Brock.

“Oh my gosh, it’s adorable!” He squealed. The little animal looked like it was smiling at him, brown and furry. It looked fluffy, like the world's happiest pillow.

“It’s a quokka. Th-the happiest creature alive.” Delirious patted the quokka’s head and it squeaked again. Brock giggled and rubbed its head. He opened my mouth, thinking of what to say. He had always been able to talk to animals ever since he was born. It’s come in handy whenever he got upset about something. They’ve always been there to comfort him.

“Hey there. How’re you doing?” Brock cooed.

“I’m doing fine,” It’s high pitched voice answered back. He could immediately guess it was a female. “That bag is really cramped though.” Brock laughed.

“Yeah, I can see how that would get uncomfortable.” The guys looked at him like he was crazy. Delirious looked from the quokka to Brock, then back to the quokka. His crystal blue eyes were widened under the mask. Lui was just staring at the quokka like it just said the strangest thing.

“You seem to be nervous sir. Is everything alright?” She asked. He nodded his head.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just nervous about the new school I’m going to.”

“Ah, new school jitters I see,” She climbed out of the bag and onto the seat next to Lui. “Well, there’s nothing to worry about. Look, you’ve already made some new friends!” 

Brock smiled sweetly at her. “You’re right. Thank you, miss.”

“No problem sir.” She went back into Lui’s bag and he zipped it up. He turned to him with this incredulous look on his face, like he couldn’t believe what had just happened.

“What-what in the world just happened?” Delirious asked, seeming to read his mind. “I thought only Lui could talk to animals.”

“I guess that’s a perk to being the son of Mother Nature.” Brock said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck while yawning. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

“Wait, what?” Came a muffled question. He didn’t answer because he was already half asleep. His body went limp and he fell into a deep slumber.

(~-~)

Someone shook Brock's shoulder vigorously, yelling his name.

“Brock, come on! We’re going to be late!” One last shove and he jolted awake. His head hit the window with a painful thud. He rubbed his head and glared at the person responsible for the rude awakening. Lui stood there with his hands on his hips, looking peeved.

“Seriously, we gotta go! The Orientation is starting soon.” Brock groaned and slowly moved to grab his bag from next to him. Lui gripped his wrist and haphazardly pulled him off the seat, just as he grabbed his bag. He dragged him at full speed off the train and into the crowded station. 

“Where’s Delirious?” Brock huffed unhappily, leaning over to catch his breath. Lui craned his neck to see over the crowd. Brock did the same and spotted an already familiar blue hoodie. Pulling Lui along behind him, they swam through the sea of bodies to try and reach him. They eventually bumped into him by accident.

“Oh, hey guys,” He said. “Where were you?”

“Sleeping beauty over here was still on the train. I had to go get him.” Lui grumbled, pointing to Brock with his thumb. Brock just blushed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Let’s go then. We don’t wanna be late.” Brock picked up his bag again and followed Delirious through the thinning crowd. They entered through a doorway and into a long, winding hallway. It seemed to go on forever. 

They finally exited the hallway and somehow entered a giant auditorium filled with people. Brock hoped they weren’t too obvious as they walked through the isles to find a seat. Lui somehow found three empty seats right next to each other and placed them right there.

“So what’s gonna happen now?” Brock asked Lui after they sat down.

“Well once the Orientation starts, the leader person will say a speech and then everyone will introduce themselves with a nickname. I’m pretty sure the majority of the parents wanted to keep their children’s identities safe so they suggested this.” Lui informed. Brock gulped nervously. Stand in front of all those people to say a silly nickname? No thanks.

“How do you know so much about this?”

“Cuz his dad is like, a damn-the damn principal or something.” Delirious pouted.

“Not the principal, the vice-principal.” 

“Like that’s any less important, Lui.” Brock gently punched him on the shoulder.

“Ah, whatever. Now shut up it’s starting.” They turned their attention towards the velvet curtains that were slowly opening as the lights dimmed. A woman stood regally in the middle of the stage, wearing a dark turquoise dress with a violet wool jacket. Her hair was a dark brown tied up in a short ponytail, slick and shiny in the light. Her smile was soft and sweet, like a warm glow of the sunlight at sunset basking over a beach. Her face was just the right amount of rounded, with high cheekbones and a small dimple on her left cheek.

“Welcome one and all to Elementia High!” Her voice, sweet as honey, resounded through the auditorium causing a chorus of voices to rise along with hers. They quieted down after she raised a hand.

“My name is Desdemona-Aonani, but to you, I’ll settle for Desdemona or Mrs. Desdemona. I am so glad you all were able to make it here. I think your teachers and I will all have a wonderful time teaching you how to use your powers and unlock new ones,”

“Of course, we’re going to have to get to know you first! So on that note, will each row please come up, introduce yourselves with a nickname and tell us some of your powers!” She gestured to the first row and they stood as if commanded too. Brock gulped as he realized they were in the fourth row, right smack dab in the middle. A pang of fear coursed through his body and he felt a tendril wrap around his forearm. What he didn’t realize was that the tendril, was in fact, a vine slowly crawling up his arm.

“Uh, Brock? You have a vine stuck to your arm.” Lui snapped him out of his trance and he looked down to see a light green baby grapevine wrap around his bicep. He pressed a finger against it and thumb to it, slowly rubbing up and down. It was a habit that calmed him down, even if he couldn’t control it sometimes. Now was one of those times.

Brock looked back up to see a very interesting boy stand up to the mic. His left eye was exposed and showed a red robotic eye, wires, and doodads. His Even so, the rest of his face would be considered handsome. He had dark auburn hair and bright cloudy blue eyes that could pierce through steel. Brock found himself just blushing at the sight of him.

“Hello everyone. M’names Terroriser and I am part robot. I can do lots of amazin’ things, like shoot lasers, see-through walls an stuff like that.” Brock admired Terroriser's confidence and the Irish accent that tinged his words. He could never stand in front of all those people and give a half-assed introduction like it was nothing. Brock didn’t realize he was staring until Terroriser caught his eye and smirked. Brock blushed and quickly looked down. The last two people came up to the mic and gave their introductions, which Lui and Delirious seemed very intent on listening to.

The dreaded moment finally came when Brock’s row walked up to the stage. Brock quickly shook the vine off of his arm to stand, only for it to wrap around his leg tightly. He sucked in a quick breath as he almost tripped. He pulled up his leg harshly, accidentally ripping the vine out of the ground. A short moment of regret came into his mind as a wave of sharp pain came and went through his chest. Another side of being the son of Mother Nature. You could feel the plant's pain. That’s why he hated accidentally walking near logging companies as they mercilessly cut down trees. For weeks on end, all he could feel was immeasurable pain coursing through as they made their way past, passing out from pain at times. Exactly why they moved far away into the country.

As they stepped up onto the stage another tendril, this time figuratively, wrapped tightly around his heart, squeezing until he had no breath. A dark pit opened in his stomach, making Brock feel hollow inside. He nearly stopped a quiet whine that escaped from his throat. A claustrophobic, stage frightened, nervous teenager had no place in a school where you had to show off everything you could to everyone.

Which now everyone would know because it was his turn at the mic. He gulped and carefully stepped up to the mic, making sure not to touch it, which would cause feedback. No need for an extra embarrassing moment to top it all off. He took in a deep breath, decided what to say, then spoke.

“Um, hello. My name is Moo,” A chorus of quiet giggles made him pause. “And I can control nature and heal people. Just small stuff like that.” He lurched and stepped away from the mic, somehow catching another smirk from Terroriser. His face must look like a tomato right now.

The rest of the people did their introductions and they sat back down in their row. The next few rows went and the three musketeers giggled at names like ‘Wildcat’ and ‘Basicallyidowrk’. Once the last person went, Desdemona-Aonani stepped back up to the microphone and dismissed them. Her sweet honey voice followed them out of the auditorium.

“If you need any help finding a room, just ask me or one of the teachers for assistance. Your schedules will be given to you at the door by Mrs. Bluebell. If you have any questions or concerns, you can stop by my office. Thank you all for coming and have a good night!”


	2. New School, New Friends, New Powers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Moo’s Schedule:   
> P.E   
> ZGT (Zoology and Geology Training)   
> SAH (Science and Herbology)   
> Elementalism   
> Universal Energy   
> Focus 
> 
> Terroriser’s Schedule:   
> P.E   
> Universal Energy   
> SAH (Science and Herbology)   
> Focus  
> ZGT (Zoology and Geology Training)  
> Free Time (Not an Elementalist)

Terroriser met up with his friends outside of the auditorium doors as people filed out. A few friendly shoves and insults were thrown around by the time everyone was there.

“‘I have shuper strength and can lift shtuff with my big muscles!’” Basically mocked Wildcat, adding a stupid lisp to aggravate the tall man.

“Yours sounded dumber than mine! ‘I have the power to control the earth and ground under your feet!’ You sounded cocky as hell!” Everyone just laughed. Terroriser attention was soon averted from the conversation and to a particular boy that just walked out of the large double doors. His brown hair, hazel eyes, and soft facial features always seemed to catch his attention, able to find him in the crowded room of the auditorium. Especially the nickname he gave himself. Moo? This guy was literally a synonym for cute. And of course, Terroriser with his confident bisexual self just had to walk up to the poor guy and flirt with him. A bad habit, his parents called it.

“Well hello there cutie,” Terroriser sidled up to Moo and placed an arm around his shoulder. “Couldn’t help but notice ye from across the room. I’m Terroriser, as ye might know.” Moo tensed and blushed, looking up to meet Brians's eye.

“H-hello. My name is Moo, as you also might know.” Moo shyly smiled up at the Irishman. Brian could almost feel his heart flutter up to his head. For a moment, he was speechless.

“Well, Moo, if ye need any help findin’ a partner, in more ways than one, I’m the guy te ask.” Terroriser winked and slowly walked back to where his friends were. Moo looked momentarily confused, shrugged, then walked back to where two other people were standing. Probably his friends.

 _Oh my god, why did I say that? I’m such an idiot!_ Brian silently cursed himself. Normally, he would be cocky as hell and endlessly flirt with the guy, but this time he couldn’t say a word. Like the boy somehow made him… nervous. It was a new feeling to Terroriser, like a deep dark hole set in the pit of his stomach. It felt horribly uncomfortable.

“Hey! Terroriser! You good bro?” Vanoss snapped his fingers in front of Terroriser's face. He blinked and stared at Vanoss’s tanned face. Everyone was looking at him.

“What?” He asked, looking around.

“We’ve been trying to get your attention for like five minutes. What happened?”

“Wha-n-nothing happened. Nothing at all.” Terroriser ruefully denied, backing away from his friends.

“Well, when you say it like that it just makes you sound more suspicious,” Mini mumbled.

“Wait, a second. I know that look,” Nogla grinned cheekily and strode over to Brian, poking a slender finger into his chest. “The little leprechaun is in love!” He announced proudly. The others started grinning like idiots right along with Nogla.

“What!? I’m not in love with anybody! And don’t call me a leprechaun, ya big potato cunt!” Nogla simply ignored him and pulled Brian into his chest, smiling like a proud mother.

“Ah, finally my little brother has found someone tat has made him speechless!” Nogla wiped a fake tear from his eye. Terroriser growled and shoved him away. Not hard enough to hurt him of course, they were still great friends/brothers. Just to stop him from hugging Brian so tightly. That man could suffocate with a hug.

“I’m older than you dumbass,” Terroriser grumbled. “And who cares if I’m in love? I’m tired so I’m goin to bed.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and trudged off to the dorm area. His friends followed behind him, obviously going to get rooms of their own. Brian spotted the boy again, heading into a room with his two friends. Brian stared for a moment more before entering a room of his own. Hopefully, they were in some classes together, because Terroriser was already intoxicated by this boy. Far too much for his liking.

Or so he thought.

(~-~)

Light streamed through the bedroom windows, warming it comfortably enough that nobody wanted to get up. Moo, however, was already up and dressed for the day. He was busy reading a book he brought on the trip with him. Part of a short series he loved called, Monsters of Myth. The funny thing was none of the monsters were fake. A lot of them were real in some ways. Brock had met some of them while traveling with his mom. When they went to Scotland, he spotted the Loch Ness Monster swimming a ways away. She was actually very kind and had pups at the bottom of the Loch. They had offered to take them into different lakes, which she happily agreed to. One of them ended up in their lake, one in an African lake, and the last in an Irish lake.

It made him smile when the thought of his mother came into his mind. The sweet and sometimes terrifying Mother Nature. The giver of life, love, and hope, vitality and strength. A virtuous woman indeed. No wonder Brock got so selfless.

A shift of movement on the bed made him look up. Lui had to sleep in the same bed as Delirious since the third bed wasn’t in there yet. So it was quite a funny sight to see them cuddling each other, both waking up and panicking at the same time.

“Gah!” They both yelled, and Delirious fell off the side of the bed with a thud. Brock giggled and went back to reading his book.

“Wh-wh-why were we cuddling!?” Lui stammered. Moo carefully turned a page before answering.

“We didn’t have a third bed so you two had to sleep together,” He looked up. “It was kinda cold so I assume your bodies did it automatically.” Lui blushed and Moo could see slightly red cheeks under Delirious’s mask.

“Damn, why you gotta make it sound so-so sexual,” Delirious mumbled before standing up.

“Why would you think it sounded sexual?” Brock turned another page as Delirious spluttered in front of him. Lui chuckled and grabbed some clothes so he could shower. Moo had conveniently already showered so he just waited until Lui and Delirious were done. They left the room after everyone was done getting ready.

Their first-class was PE (Lui asked his dad if they could be in all the same classes. Another perk being the son of the Vice-Principal). Brock wasn’t a big fan of sports since it was an easy way to get targeted by bullies. He was a lover, not a fighter. Once they got to the field, of course, Moo immediately felt nervous. This entire field was filled with grass, flowers, and was surrounded by trees. One false shot and it could send those trees- and Brock- tumbling down. He gulped once then took a seat where the rest of the class was sitting.

As they waited for their teacher to show up, Moo could feel eyes trained on him from behind. He glanced back to see Terroriser curiously looking at him. He blushed and looked away from the half robot.

 _Why is he looking at me? Are my clothes weird? Is my hair weird. Is my_ face _weird?_ Moo fidgeted trying to figure out what was happening when their teacher walked in.

“Hello, class!” He strode to the middle of the field, standing in front of them. “My name is Coach. Nothing more, nothing less. Today we're going to do a few battles to test how strong you all are and evaluate your strengths and weaknesses. Before we begin, is anyone here a healer?” Brock slowly raised his hand. A glance around told him he was the only healer in his class.

“Alright then, come stand next to me,” Brock stood and carefully walked over to Coach, with little flowers blooming under his feet. When he stood next to Coach, a giant sunflower bloomed behind him with roses and chrysanthemums surrounding it. His class murmured amazement but Brock just shrank away. Coach silenced the class with a hand.

“Okay, okay. Once your battles are over, come to us to be healed of any minor injuries. In case of any serious injuries, the match will be stopped no matter what. Now, will everyone please stand so they can be chosen for the first battle.” The class stood and Coach scanned over them to choose.

“How about Terroriser and Basically.” Moo recognized the two names as Terroriser and a dark-skinned boy stepped up to the field. Coach and Moo had moved to the sidelines while everyone else backed away. Brock prepared himself for the battle as Coach raised a hand.

“Once one is down, the battle is over. Ready…” Terroriser and Basically got into fighting stances. “Begin!”

In quick succession, Terroriser fired three laser shot at Basically’s feet, forcing him to dodge. Moo winced as the grass disintegrated, but carefully watched the battle for any injuries. The ground crumbled under Terroriser and threw him back across the field. He blocked the second rock hurtling towards him with his robotic arm before shooting another laser at Basically. He blocked the shot with a rock, which had promptly disintegrated. The battle continued like that until Basically was eventually incapacitated by one of Brian's lasers. Brock healed him before he disappeared. A few more battles happened father that, with Brock constantly wincing in the background. Wildcat and Terroriser defeated every person they came against. It was a close call when Wildcat had to go against someone with fire powers, but he came out victorious with only a few burns. The last battle of the day was between Terroriser and Wildcat.

The second coach yelled go, the battle began.

Terroriser shot five shots at Wildcat, who dodged it with a boulder in his hands. He chucked it at Terroriser and forced him to dodge away. Wildcat smirked and continued to throw boulders at Terroriser, slowly tiring him out. That’s when everyone in the field realized what he was doing.

He was taunting Terroriser.

They all knew he would lose in a fistfight against Wildcat and was forced to keep a distance. Wildcat realized this and kept him from firing lasers, tiring him out until he could knock him out with a punch. Terroriser was slowly getting frustrated until he roared and suddenly shot a giant laser from his palm at Wildcat, mid-throw. The boulder in his hands disappeared as the shot destroyed it and blasted a hole through at least ten trees behind them.

Brock's throat suddenly tightened and the choking sensation from oh so many years ago came burning back into his mind.

Pain. Tears. Screaming.

He gasped and fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. Every fiber of his body burned. He couldn’t breathe. He was choking. The trees slowly disintegrated, allowing him to feel every ounce of pain, every aggravating moment of horrible pain surrounding his body.

He grabbed his throat as he tried so desperately to breathe. He was shaking. He fell to his side, shrinking into himself as he clawed at his throat. His body shook as another wave of pain convulsed through his body. More tears streamed down his face. He knew he wouldn’t die, but if this is what it felt like, he’d rather succumb to death just to make it stop. He could hear muffled voices as his vision slowly went fuzzy.

It took almost all his energy for his hand to reach out and spread into the grass. His powers seeped through the ground and to the trees. He felt it touch the roots of each tree before he willed it to heal them. They slowly came back, each particle fitting like pieces of a puzzle together. The pain and burning slowly subsided, sinking away to be replaced with a cold emptiness. Unfortunately, he had already lost most of his energy trying to breathe, and so with one last shiver, he went into darkness.


	3. Brotherhood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conversations might be a bit skewed. Had to edit a part :P

“Holy shit is he okay!?” Terroriser and Wildcat ran over to where everyone was surrounding Moo. The boy had suddenly collapsed, making quiet choking noises with tears running down his face. He looked as if he was in pain, shaking and holding his throat. Of course, he had to be the only healer in the class, so some girl had to go and get a teacher. Brian saw his shaky hand reach out and touch the grass. It was confusing until he saw the tendrils of green magic snake across the field and to the trees. Brian watched as the tendrils until they reached the roots of the disintegrating trees. His eyes widened as the particles of the trees slowly came back together to form the living plants once again. Wildcat glanced up and saw him staring.

“What the fuck are you staring at?” Terroriser numbly pointed to the tree line and Wildcat followed his gaze to the newly reformed trees.

“B-but that’s impossible!” He shouted and stood from where he was kneeling.

“What’s impossible?” Coach looked up at the dumbfounded teenagers. Brian's hand was still raised, pointed.

“The trees. He healed the trees,” Terroriser mumbled.

“And?” 

“He shouldn’t have been able ta,” He lowered his hand. “My lasers separate the particles of everythin’ into microscopic specs, scattering them through the air. They’re so small, that not even the most skilled healer can fix it. And yet, he did.” He looked down at the now unconscious Moo. Now that he thought about it, Moo had healed Basically and a few others from his laser shots. He was just too in the moment to realize. 

The girl and a few other teachers had come through the doors, rushing to see what the commotion was about. Brian simply let them pass. Hopefully, once Moo was awake, he would be able to ask some questions.

(~-~)

Terroriser followed Wildcat, some kid named Lui, and a boy in a mask to the infirmary. A few other students they passed glanced curiously at them. 

They burst into the infirmary and many doctors and nurses looked up in surprise. They shuffled past everyone and the nurses entered the room. One turned around and stopped them.

“Sorry, but while we're checking up on him, nobody is allowed inside.” She closed the door in their faces. 

“What the hell?” The masked boy muttered. Lui shrugged and sat down in a seat. Terroriser just stared at the shut door in front of him. A sudden hand touched his shoulder, and he turned to see Wildcat looking at him.

"C'mon dude. All we can do is wait." Brian gave him a pained expression before sighing and sitting down.

Sunlight streamed through the window above his head and dust molecules floated idly nearby. It felt like an hour went by every minute. Brian counted every second the clock ticked in the background. It seemed like each minute Moo was in that room, the more Brians's heart sank to his stomach. Wildcat, Lui and mask kid had all eventually left to go to their next classes, leaving Brian alone with his thoughts. 

Wildcat came back a few times between classes to check on Terroriser, but eventually had to leave again after a while. The sun barely moved before the nurses finally came out of the room. Brian shot up out of his chair.

"Oh, you're still here," One of them glanced over at him "Well, he's ready to be visited now. Just be quiet. He has a bit of a migraine." She smiled sweetly before entering another room. Terroriser rushed over to the door and quietly opened it. The first thing he heard was the steady beep of the heart monitor. The next thing he saw was Moo sitting up on the bed staring out the window. Brians's breath hitched for a second.

"Hey." He said. Moo's hazel eye glanced at him. Brian saw a blush slowly creep up his neck before he looked away. 

“Uh, hi. Is anyone else with you?” Moo played with the edge of the blanket.

“No. Everyone else had to leave for classes.”

“And you didn’t leave?” 

Brian shook his head. “Nope.” He said proudly, popping the ‘p’.

“Oh,” It was nearly whispered. Brian had moved next to the bed now, admiring the way the sunlight shined on Moo’s face, giving a golden glow to his cheeks and hair. He sat on the edge of the bed, letting Moo shift his legs before he sat. The sunlight bounced off his metal eye. It clicked and whirred, adjusting to the light, making Moo curiously look at the mechanical piece.

“At the training field… what happened to you?” Terroriser asked after a few seconds. Moo pursed his lips, furrowing his brows. He glanced at the little clover sitting in the window sill. It rose a little, like a greeting. Moo sighed.

“You know how I can control plants?” Terroriser nodded. “Well, I can also feel them. Not like feel them with touch, but with their emotions and their feelings.”

“So were the trees pissed?” Terroriser asked. Moo giggled, a sweet bell like sound.

“No. When you shot that laser blast into the forest, they started disintegrating. They were still alive so…” It suddenly clicked, literally and figuratively; Brian’s eye clicked. Moo looked at him suspiciously.

“Oh… oh Jesus, I’m sorry! Fuck, this is all my fault.” Brian smacked his metal eye, causing a ringing sound to reverberate through his head. Moo suddenly put a hand on his.

“It’s not your fault. This has been happening since I was five.” 

“Since you were… five?” He didn’t know exactly how much pain Moo was in when he collapsed, but he had a good idea of it. A five-year-old shouldn’t have to go through that.

“It really only happens when lots of trees or plants start dying at once when I’m near them. Other than that, it’s just a minor pain.” Terroriser looked at the boy in front of him with newfound admiration. To have to go through that at only five years old was extraordinary, yet also troubling. To feel that close to death lord knows how many times must have some major psychological damage. It was amazing Moo was even still sane.

“That must suck,” Moo sighed. Terroriser stood up from the bed. “Anyway, if ye ever need any repayment or new people to hang out wit, my friends and I could open up a few slots.” Moo looked up in surprise, then nodded numbly, blinking in shock. Brian left the room, closing the door gently.

“OH MY GOSH IS HE OKAY!?” Mask kid suddenly grabbed Brian’s shoulders and shook him vigorously while shouting in his face.

“He-e i-is f-f-fine! Sto-o-p sha-a-king me-e-e!” Lui pulled the masked kid off of Brian, letting the robot breathe.

“Stop harassing Terroriser, Delirious.” He scolded. Delirious- an accurate description of his personality- just cackled.

“Right, sorry dude,” Terroriser rolled his eye while Wildcat pushed past the two.

“So what happened to him?” Brian glanced back at the closed door.

“I think… he’ll tell you himself. When he’s ready.” Wildcat furrowed his brows, sighed, then walked back to the waiting chairs.

“Alright then. I’ll just ask your boyfriend once he comes to class tomorrow.” Brian spluttered for a second, pink dusting his cheeks. Delirious and Lui giggled quietly.

“He’s not my boyfriend!” He yelled and stormed out of the room, blushing profusely. He heard Wildcat’s wheezy laugh before the door slammed behind him. He grumbled to himself as he made his way back to the dorm room. Classes were over, allowing a few people to glance at him, a few girls trying to make a move on him, and guys blushing as he walked past. Brian wasn’t in the mood to flirt with anybody at the moment, so he walked past without a second glance.

The door to his dorm room was decorated with little bits and bobs Nogla made. Pictures of the two hung on the wood, bright white and young smiles shining at Terroriser. The picture was of him and Nogla when they were six years old and still living in the farm house. It was before Terroiser got his cybernetic parts, before the accident happened. Terroriser sighed. He opened the door and saw Nogla messing with multiple little tidbits, tools strewn about the floor. Nogla himself was wearing less than stylish goggles over his eyes, khaki shorts, and a shirt that said, ‘I’m the best at what I do, which is usually nothing’. He had what looked like a welding torch that seemed to spark each time it touched the shining metal. The metal itself was almost a replica of his own metal eye, only missing a few pieces.

“Oh, hey, Brine,” Nogla lifted his goggles to look at Brian. “I was just figurin’ out some upgrades for ye to use next time yer fightin’ in class. Don’t want ye to make someone collapse again.” A sweet, dopey little smile spread across the Irishman’s face. His fluffy, curly, dark hair flopped in front of his chocolate eyes a little.

“How do ye even know about that? And could ye stop calling me, Brine? That’s not my name.”

“Word travels fast, and it’s not my fault I’m Irish!” Terroriser rolled his eye.

“We’re bot’ Irish, ya big lump.” Brian patted Nogla’s head as he walked past. He sat down on the bed, sighing loudly. Thoughts bounced around in his head, literally and figuratively. It sounded like a screw was jumping around in his head.

“Ya got a screw loose in there, Brine?” Nogla motioned to him with a wrench. Terroriser rolled his eye again and moved next to Nogla. The taller man laid Brian's head in his lap, organizing his tools for easy access.

“God, it feels like we’re datin’ sometimes.” The brunette murmured. Nogla began to unscrew the plate covering Terrorisers head mechanics, chuckling quietly.

“That’s brotherly love for ya.” While Nogla messed around in Terroriser's head, he let his thoughts wander. His friends would probably wonder why he wasn’t in his classes, wonder what happened to Moo, and ask if they kissed like the weirdos they were.

It seemed like every day in this school would be weirder and more troublesome than the last. It was only the first day and someone was already hospitalized. Tiresome, was w-what it was.

Wait. Stuttering w-while thinking?

“H-hey! Don’t ggg-g-go destroying my b-brain, Nogla!” Terroriser smacked his thigh, smarting the bare skin.

“Sorry, sorry. Just moving stuff around to get to the screw.”

“Maybe take out my p-pain receptors while you’re at it,” Terroriser mumbled. What Nogla was doing felt only mildly uncomfortable. Brian was just being dramatic, as always.

“Nope. Way too hard.” Nogla finally stopped messing around in Terroriser's head, closing the plate. Brian waited patiently while he re-screwed the plate.

“There. All done. It was just a bent screw,” He showed Brian the tiny screw. It was, in fact, very bent. Twisted in two different ways. “Probably came loose when ye were fightin'.” He gently patted the plate and let Brian sit up again, shaking his head to check for anything loose.

“Jesus, it feels like you just smashed my head in with a sledgehammer.” Terroriser gripped his head while furrowing his eyebrows. An uncomfortable pressure squeezed his head, kind of like a headache, but worse. Nogla simply waved him off.

“Ah, it shouldn’t be that bad. I only tightened a few tings. Should get used to it in a week.”

Brian gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. Nogla grinned cheekily, shoulders bouncing as he chuckled.

“Feels like ya hammered ‘em in instead.” Terroriser tackled the taller man, trapping him in a headlock and gave him a hearty noogie, mussing the fluffy hair.

“Haha, Brine, stop!” Brian kept his weight on Nogla, preventing the man from moving.

“Promise to stop calling me, Brine then?”

“Yes, yes! Get off of me!” Brian kissed the crown of Nogla’s head, then got off of him. The taller of the two attempted to fix his messy hair, failing miserably. He pouted while Brian laughed at him.

"You're so mean ta me sometimes," Nogla whined.

"Yeah, yeah I'm such a mean big brother. Now, could ya clean up your tools so we can sleep?" Nogla rolled his eyes but nodded anyway. He waved a hand, a silver glow enveloping it, letting the tools float back to their respective places in the toolbox. 

“I know how much ye need yer beauty sleep.” He leaned over and grabbed the toolbox.

“It’s hard keeping this manly physique in check.” Brian puffed out his metal chest confidently.

“Says the leprechaun.” Nogla flicked the bent screw at Brian’s face, only hitting his bicep. 

“I’m not a focking leprechaun screamin’ about me lucky charms and pot-o-gold, Nogla! I am a cyborg! Cy. Borg!” Terroriser yelled, becoming significantly more Irish and having his voice raise a few octaves. Nogla laughed as he shoved the toolbox under the bed. Brian growled and shoved himself under the covers, throwing the blanket over his head.

“Whatever. Just go to sleep.” Nogla giggled quietly as he got himself under the covers of his own bed. A quick snap and the lights flickered off.

“Goodnight, _Brian_.” Terroriser found himself chuckling at the obvious emphasis of his name.

“Goodnight, _David_.” The faintest of clicks and Brian was out cold.

(~-~)

**_CLANG_ **

Brian rolled over.

**_BANG_ **

A quiet groan and a thrown blanket.

**_CLANGCLANGBANGCLANGBANG_ **

“Nogla, what the fock is that noise!?” Brian threw the covers off of him and squinted towards the sounds. Bright sunlight shone through the somehow open window. A light breeze ruffled Terroriser's hair.

“Sorry. I kinda lost control in my sleep.” Nogla himself was laying on the floor with blankets tangled up around him and tools thrown about the room. 

“Again?” Brian yawned out. This was a regular occurrence, Nogla occasionally letting his powers slip in his sleep. After a quick stretch, he realized what those sounds were. A few wrenches and hammers were laid out on his bed. He looked down at his left arm and saw multiple golf ball sized dents.

“Oh goddammit.” He felt up the rest of his body and found dents all over the left half of him. He was just lucky nothing hit the human half. 

“Really really sorry, Brian. Do ye want me to fix it before we go to class?” Terroriser blew a quiet raspberry, thinking.

“Nah, I tink it’s fine. As long as I wear a long sleeved shirt, nobody should notice. Ye can fix me up during our break.” Nogla sighed, greatly relieved. He cleaned the tools strewn about the room while Terroriser went through his daily routine of taking forever to do his hair. Nogla was left banging on the bathroom door.

“Jesus, Brine, it doesn’t take that long to wash yer focking hair!”

“Don’t call me Brine!”

“Then get yer ass out here already!!” Nogla screeched. Brian grumbled to himself, continuing to fix the world's most minuscule imperfections on his brown locks. 

“I’m about to bust down this door if ye don’t-” Terroriser opened the door, staring Nogla in the face- chin technically- with a sour expression on his face.

“I’m out now, ye don’t have to destroy focking the door.” He shuffled past the taller angry Irishman, who had lifted his leg to kick the door down. Nogla put his leg down and waddled into the bathroom, almost dragging Brian back when he used his powers to close it. If Nogla didn’t take too much time doing whatever, they might get to class on time.

(~-~)

As they waited for the rest of the class to show up, Brock had asked the teacher if there was a garden nearby he could visit. The class they were currently at was Zoology and Geography Training. Lucky for him, there was a hedge garden and a forest nearby.

Little dandelions bloomed in his wake. The garden was filled with roses and tulips, all swaying in the gentle breeze like dancing flames. Rabbits raised their heads alert for danger while lowering themselves to nibble on dandelions and small herbs. A large hedge maze sat in the center, candytuft leading a greeting path to the entrance of the labyrinth. 

Walking through the flowers felt like total bliss. Brock spread his arms to the sun, taking deep wide breaths of sweetened air. He felt each breath of life, each creak of bark and call of the thrush above him. A monarch landed silently on his shoulder, opening and closing its wings slowly.

“Hello.” The quietest of whispers floated up to his ear. He held up his finger for her to crawl up on, bringing her closer to his ear.

“Hi there. How is your spring going?” 

“Lovely, thank you,” Her antennae twitched. “Don’t you think this garden is wonderful?” Her quiet, happy voice made Moo smile.

“Absolutely. Have you seen the forest yet? I’ve been thinking of visiting it.” 

“Oh, it’s wondrous. I love being in the trees at night, watching the stars twinkle. It’s so serene and quiet in the day as well.” Brock lifted his finger to the sky, watching her wings spread.

“Sounds amazing. Thank you. Have a nice day.” A gentle flutter and the monarch flew up to the sun

“You as well, Gaius.” The whisper was left on the wind, blowing away in the breeze. Brock left his hand suspended in the air for a second.

_She knew who I was?_ He thought to himself, bringing his arm down. He decided not to dwell on it too long and made his way to the path of candytuft leading into the hedge maze. Brown and white rabbits hopped up behind him, following the trail of dandelions he was leaving, while whispering to each other excitedly.

‘Tis a Gaius,’ ‘He handsome, isn’t he?’ ‘So strong already,’ The soft Scottish voices followed him through the maze. Admirations, and nothing more than admirations. Brock just ran his hand against the rough, storm worn hedges, growing sage and foxglove under his fingers. Each flower popped open and greeted him like the sun. The twists of the maze were simple, easy to follow, carrying a certain type of smell through the leafy halls, like mint and lavender twirling in the air together. Brock slowly made his way through, checking every leaf while dragonflies flitted around him in their jittery fashion, buzzing ‘Gaius, Gaius the gods have blessed us with a Gaius’.

Once Brock reached the center of the maze, he was bombarded with rabbits, butterflies, dragonflies, raccoons, and even a buck. Each was chittering ‘Gaius’ in one way or another.

“Oh, hello everyone,” He crouched down to their heights. “I’ve come here to explore a little. Once I’m done here, do you mind showing me the forest?” A raccoon stood tall on its hind legs.

“Anything for a Gaius.” He said. Brock smiled and rubbed behind his ear.

“Thank you.” Moo picked up a brown rabbit that was nearby, standing to enter the flower field. A doe and fawn entered the field from the forest. Brock watched the spotted fawn prance around the flowers, shoving his nose into the flowers, covering it with pollen. His nose twitched and he sneezed softly. The doe and buck came together, hugging each other with their necks. They shared no words, but love flowed through each step. The little fawn hopped over to Brock.

“Hi!” He squeaked. Brock chuckled.

“Hello there. Are those your parents over there?” 

“Yah, yah! Momma and dada!” Brock watched him prance back over to his parents. The doe nuzzled the fawn while the buck walked up to Brock.

“Hello, Gaius.” The buck bowed.

“You don’t have to bow to me,” The buck rose. “I’m not that special.”

“Of course you are! You are the direct son of the Earth Mother, the giver of life. Once your mother is gone, you’ll take up her legacy. You are special.” Brock felt the buck’s words sink into his heart. He already knew, his mother giving him the lecture plenty of times, he knew he had to take her place eventually. He just didn’t feel ready for it. Worthy of it. His mother was Mother Earth for titans sake. That’s someone hard to live up to.

“I understand if you’re not ready. You are still young and have much to learn. Take as much time as you need.” The doe had walked up behind the buck with the fawn bouncing up beside her. Moo blushed and smiled.

“Thank you. I hope you have a nice day.” He waved as they went back to the forest.

“You as well.” They called back. A billowing wind was left in their wake. A few chickadees flew around his head carrying a ring of pansies. They placed it on top of his hair, chirruping. Two landed on his shoulders, nuzzling their heads into his neck, tickling him. Brock giggled and rubbed both of their heads with his index fingers. 

Brock sat himself down in the soft grass. Small animals came into his lap to snuggle. He had a hard time trying to pet them all. Sounds of animal excitement filled the air, accompanied by the hum of the bees, birds, and sun. They all just sat together under the sky for a little, enjoying the warm feeling the air held around them. It was perfect.

Until, of course, something just had to ruin it. A fox somewhere gave an alarm bark. Brock sat up in alarm. All of the animals ran, the rabbits heading far into the meadow, the birds flying into the trees, the raccoons scurrying into the forest, and Brock staying where he was since he had no other place to go. He slowly stood, carefully watching the trees. A pair of glowing blue eyes stared at him from the darkness.

“Hm. I thought I smelled rabbits. I guess they left.” A smooth female voice rose to Brock’s ears.

“Who are you?” He asked, glancing around.

“It doesn't matter who I am. Who you are is a much more interesting subject.” A pitch black paw entered the sunlight. Brock backed away as a dark as night wolf lumbered slowly towards him. Even if he could talk to and possibly control animals, the general few were still dangerous. That included wolves.

“I wonder why a Gaius would have any business here. It’s not exactly the most regal place to be.” She had the faintest of accents tinging her words. She could’ve been at least as tall as Brock and much stronger

“Regal? Regality doesn’t really matter to me.” The wolf paced around him, sniffing at his legs. He stiffened when her nose touched his thigh.

“Really? How noble of you. Then I suppose you're here for something, surely?”

“No. I just… wanted to visit the forest and meadow.” Her eyes never left him.

“Well, that’s peculiar. I would've thought the ruler of the woods, mountains, and seas would want something in return for their everlasting hospitality.”

“I’m not the ruler. My mother is. And besides, she wouldn’t do that. She’s not like that.” 

The wolf paused in surprise. “Interesting.” 

“U-um, do you have a name? A pack or anything?” He glanced back at the forest, just in case. Her head tilted a little.

“...No. I have no name, nor do I have a pack. I am alone.” She said after a pause.

“Alright. How about I give you a name?” Her ear twitched slightly. Her eyes had lost their glowing luster in the sunlight. Now they were just a piercing blue.

“That would be… nice.”

“Okay!” Brock grabbed her face and brought it close to his. He scrunched up his nose, humming.

“You look like an Ash to me. So now your name is… Ash!” He did a little jazz hands. She let out the littlest of sounds.

“Ash. I like it. Sounds strong.” She bared her teeth as a show of strength, standing to her tallest. Brock briefly glanced back at the school and saw Lui coming towards the garden.

“I’m glad you like it. Anyway, I have to be going now,” He stood and took a few steps backward. “I think the trees reach where I am, so you might be able to watch our class for a while.”

“Alright. I don’t know what a class is, but it sounds much more interesting than failing hunting.” Brock smiled and waved to her. Ash stood there for a moment more before pacing back into the dense forest. Brock turned and jogged to where Lui was coming. He could see the little quokka laying in the crook of his arm, smiling like she always was. 

“There you are! The teacher asked me to come get you. Class is starting now.” They both jogged to the class area. Brock could just barely feel the presence of Ash just beyond the trees. As they came over the hill, he could see the class and their teacher standing there, waiting for them. He and Lui took their spots in the standing rows. 

“Oh good, you’re here. Well now that they’ve made it, we can start class.” Little butterflies landed on Brock’s flower crown. Lui raised an eyebrow. While the teacher talked, Lui nudged Brock with his elbow, trying to get his attention.

“Yo dude. Where’d the flowers come from?” He whispered.

“U-uhhhh… birds?” Moo shrugged, smiling innocently. Lui looked at him even more suspiciously. 

“Birds. All right then.” He pursed his lips and petted the quokka idly.

“Lui they just-“

“No no, it’s fine. I’m not asking.” Lui said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. Brock blushed and looked away from his friend. The teacher was blathering about different types of poisonous plants, extremely dangerous animals, and other things Moo already knew. He didn’t bother to listen. He was too focused on the wolf slowly coming out of the bushes. He quickly checked if anyone had noticed her, which no one had. He tried to motion to Ash to back off, but her eyes were locked onto their teacher, who had for some reason brought a slab of meat to class. He was explaining how bringing a piece of meat could save your life in an animal encounter. Presenting it in front of a dense, unknown forest was definitely not going to save his.

“Ash! Back up!” He whisper yelled. Her eyes momentarily landed on him, snapping her out of the trance. Moo thought she would back off, but their teacher just had to put the meat right in front of her face, resulting in a low growl of hunger. Everyone finally noticed Ash, backing away from her immediately. She was still focused on the slab of meat. 

“Everyone back up! This is exactly what I was talking about! The wolf will probably leave us alone if I give it this meat.” No duh. That’s the only thing she’s been focused on.

“Wolf? I am no mere wolf,” Ash barked viciously, eyes glowing. “I am part of an ancient pack of dire wolves! I am NOT a weak wolf!” Brock heard her muscles ripple and break under her skin as she grew spontaneously in size. The class was starting to freak out as Ash slowly approached their teacher, who was shaking quite a lot. 

“Ash, please calm down. I-I’m sure he didn’t know.” Brock tried to approach her. She let him get close enough to touch her, still growling at their teacher. She now stood as tall as him and as long as a grown man. Her hackles were raised as her head was lowered.

“First, make that man give me the meat. Second, tell him that I. Am not. A wolf.” She snorted and backed off behind him. 

“Uhm… c-can I have the meat please?” He turned back to their shaking teacher. A grown-man shakily handing a teenager a piece of meat for a hungry dire wolf could’ve been seen as amusing, if the dire wolf wasn’t about to murder someone at the slightest movement.

The meat enticed Ash to come forward and take it from his hands. As she wolfed (or dire wolfed) down the red meat, her size gradually decreased. Once she was calm, Lui and Delirious— who appeared out of nowhere— came up to them both. 

“Also, um, she told me to tell you that s-she’s not a wolf. She seems to be very, uh… sensitive to that.” He said. She huffed behind him. Lui and Delirious looked confused. They were both eyeing Ash warily.

“She’s not gonna, like, a-attack us or anything? Moo?” Delirious was hiding behind Lui like some sort of shield.

“No. She’s calm now. As long as nobody calls her a wolf, we’ll be fine.” The class eventually came back together, still keeping a fair distance from Ash. Brock stayed next to her so he could calm her down if she got agitated again.

That is how the rest of the class went. Afterward, everyone immediately dispersed away from Ash and Brock, who was having idle conversation with each other. 

“Right, well, I have to go now. I’ll visit you when I can,” Brock stood from his spot. “Have a nice day, Ash! I hope you catch lots of prey!” He waved goodbye and walked off with his friends.

Ash sat and watched him go. The familiar feeling of need came once again. She stood, staring at her paws as they waned and disappeared.


	4. Familiar

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let’s just pretend the logic here is good

The group gathered in Wildcat and Mini’s room after their classes were over. Word got out that a dire wolf was on the school grounds and Moo somehow calmed her down. Even had a conversation with her.

The first question was, how did a dire wolf get here? The second, why was Moo able to calm her down? Third being, why was he having a conversation with her?

“Did anyone else see this happen?” Vanoss asked. Everyone shrugged.

“Their class was ZGT. None of us had that class in the first period. Only Lui, Moo, and Delirious were there.” FourZer0 pointed out. Basically was laying beside him on the floor.

“How do you know all their names?” Mini asked. He was sitting beside Wildcat on the bed. FourZer0 just shrugged.

“I listen around.” 

“Like a fucking creep!” Wildcat shouted. A few laughs ran around the group.

“All I heard was that the teacher was scared shitless and Moo just walked up to her. Pretty fucking sure you’re not supposed to do that with a dire wolf.” Basically said.

“And what exactly do  _ you _ know about dire wolves?” Cartoonz flicked a small spark of fire at Basically. He shook the ground a little in retaliation. Ohm and Cartoonz were the newest editions to the team. Vanoss found them wandering around during break, messing around with Cartoonz’ hellfire and Ohm energy blasts.

Basically shrugged. “Nothing. I just thought it would be common sense.” 

“I guess so.” Cartoonz was playing with a little bit of burning hellfire. He was flinging it between each hand. 

“He was calling her Ash. Do you think they knew each other before school started?” Mini wondered. Terroriser shook his head.

“I don’t think so. He didn’t know she was a dire wolf until then. How could he have known her before?” The group went silent as they pondered this. As they thought, nobody noticed the door opening slightly and nobody heard the quiet patter of paw steps on the floor. Ash weaved through each person, staying as quiet as possible, taking in each scent that wafted to her nose.

_ None of these people are him… but some have his scent. Perhaps they know him. _ She sat in the middle of their circle. The first thing that appeared was her dark nose and the fur around it. Still, no one seemed to notice. The rest of her face appeared and Wildcat finally saw her.

“What the fuck!?” He screeched. Everyone immediately jumped up, watching the dire wolf materialize in front of them. Vanoss let his wings come out a little, Ohm built up a ball of white energy, and Wildcat’s muscles rippled under his skin. Ash stared them down with her calm piercing eyes.

“How the hell did she get in here?” Terroriser yelled, standing on the bed. Vanoss’s bright orange eyes glanced at the cracked door.

“I think she came in through the door.” He concluded. 

“But she, like, appeared in front of us out of fucking nowhere. How did she do that?” Wildcat wondered. Ash seemed to look at him as if she was trying to say something. Unfortunately, none of them could understand her.

“Is she… trying to talk to you?” Mini stared back at Ash, squinting at her. Wildcat shrugged. 

“I don’t fucking know! All I know is that she’s dangerous and none of us fucking understand her.” And so for the next twenty minutes, they tried to decipher Ash’s silent stares and subtle movement. They did basically everything. Vanoss went full phoenix to see if his animal half could understand, Basically stared at her, looking like he was about to shit, and Nogla even trying to build a machine that deciphered wolf language. Of course, none of those worked so they sat around her pondering what to do.

“Uh… I might have an idea.” Ohm spoke up. Everyone gave him immediate undivided attention.

“W-well… I don’t only send out energy. I can also receive it. So I thought if Mini matched with her brain's electrical waves, I could amplify her thoughts out from him to… us.” The masked boy blushed and curled in on himself. He hadn’t been one to like a lot of attention, so he was glad when Nogla took the spotlight.

“That might work as long as Mini keeps a steady flow and doesn’t fry her brain.” He said. Mini chuckled nervously as Ash growled quietly at him. 

“It’s worth a try at this point,” Terroriser grumbled. Ohm and Mini both slowly approached the dire wolf, who did nothing but stare. Mini gently placed his hand on either side of her head while Ohm placed a glowing hand on his shoulder. It was silent for a few seconds, the only sounds being the pulsating of Ohm’s palms until a slight crackling filled the room.

“—hel—o?” A distorted voice said. Everyone jumped to their feet in surprise.

“Hello? Can you talk to us?” FourZer0 called. Everyone started talking over each other.

“Is she there? What’s she saying?” Vanoss’s voice was the only distinguishable one from all the overlapping sounds. Mini growled in frustration.

“If you all could shut the fuck up maybe we would be able to hear her!” He yelled, taking his hands off of Ash's face. Everyone then proceeded to shut up. He grumbled to himself, placing his hands back on Ash’s head. It was difficult to match brain waves since they were constantly changing, especially with the feat of her thoughts being broadcasted. It took total concentration.

“Excuse me?” A clearer female voice said. It was still a bit crackly, but understandable enough.

“Hello. Uhm, I’m Vanoss. Do you mind telling us why you are here?” He asked.

Her ear twitched. “Yes. I am here looking for the one known as Moo. I smelled his scent on one of you and thought you might know where he is.” Everyone glanced around, searching for anyone who had an answer. None of them did.

Vanoss’s voice shook. “Okay. W-why are you looking for him?” Ash shifted, as if embarrassed.

“It would be nice to become his familiar. Maybe even his… friend?” Vanoss glanced around at everyone. They all got the same idea.

“How about we bring him here? Would that help you?” Her tail wagged slightly.

“Yes, that would be nice. Thank you.” Vanoss nodded, giving Ohm and Mini the okay to let go. They both let their energy fade, breathing heavily.

“That... was a lot harder than I thought it would be.” Mini puffed, leaning back on his hands. Ohm nodded in agreement. Terroriser stood, stretching himself, backing out of the room to go and get the apparent Gaius from his room. Nogla and Wildcat followed him out, conversing about the situation.

“I wonder if she had something to do with his collapse in P.E” Wildcat walked by Nogla with his arms behind his head. Terroriser stayed in front of them

“Why wouldn’t he tell one of us? We’re his friends, right?” 

Wildcat gave him this confused look. “Nogla, when have you ever seen us interacting with him, let alone acting like friends?” The Irishman seemed to think before shrugging. Wildcat sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Fucking never. None of us have talked to him except for Terroriser.” The boy mentioned cringed, knowing Nogla would pester him until the end of time.

“Oh,  _ really? _ ” And here we go. Nogla came up to Terroriser’s side, staring at him with peaked interest. “And when was this?” Brian rolled his eyes.

“When he was taken to the nurse’s office after sorta kinda not really dying.” He said sarcastically. Perhaps not sarcastically enough, however, because both Nogla and Wildcat looked at him in shock. 

“He almost died!?” Wildcat screeched. Terroriser flinched as his metal eye ringed painfully.

“No he didn’t almost die. It just felt like he was dying, is what he said,” Wildcat still looked suspicious. “He wasn’t going to die.” 

“Right. So why did he  _ feel  _ like he was dying?” Brian sighed heavily once they stopped at Moo’s door. Muffled voices filtered through the cracks.

“Well why don’t you ask him yourself?” He knocked three times. The voices quickly hushed. It was silent for a little, until the doorknob twisted, opening to reveal Lui standing in the doorway, holding a very happy looking creature in the crook of his arm. He was wearing a bright colored crown of flowers.

“Hello? You guys need something?” He asked.

Brian nodded. “Do you think you could get Moo for us?” Lui looked at him with suspicion, then turned to face the inside of the room.

“Hey, Moo? Can you come here please?” He called back. A bit of shuffling and Lui moved out of the way so Moo could come to the door. Terroriser’s breath hitched at the sight of him. He too was wearing a flower crown with bracelets of vines hanging off his wrists, his hair messy and falling in front of chocolate hazel eyes. The light from behind gave him and ethereal golden glow. A bit of pollen clung to his fingertips, like he was messing with flowers just before then.

“Uhm, yes?” He asked. Brian didn’t answer, being too busy gawking at him, so Wildcat pushed him out of the way to answer for him.

“We need you to come with us.” Moo raised a questioning eyebrow, but said nothing. He carefully shuffled past Lui, who closed the door after him, and followed the trio into the hallway. They walked in silence for a while.

“So… why did you guys come to get me?” Moo asked from the back.

“We have um… something we need you for.” Wildcat said. Moo scoffed.

“Alright. Totally not suspicious or anything,” He mumbled. “What do you need me for?”

“You’ll find out.” Nogla teased. Moo made a small sound, making a face. Terroriser shook his head.

_ Good job making it sound creepy guys. Like he wasn’t already nervous as fuck.  _ Wildcat opened the door to the room. Everyone was surprisingly quiet as they walked in. 

“Ash?” Moo said as he caught sight of the dire wolf. She immediately perked up when she saw him, hopping up and trotting over to him, licking at his pollinated hand. He scratched behind her ear.

“Did you… ask them to get me?” He asked her. There was a bit of silence until he looked surprised. 

“But… how? I’m pretty sure you guys can’t talk to animals…” He stopped. “U-unless one of you can?”

“Nah, none of us can do that. Believe me, we tried.” Evan said. Moo relaxed a little.

“Okay. Then, how did you talk to her?” Everyone stole a glance at Ohm and Mini. They both got up and scooted towards Ash, who turned to face them. They took their positions again. Moo watched as Ohm's hands glowed and Mini’s crackled with energy. The process didn’t take nearly as long as the first time.

“Hello again.” Her smooth voice filled the room again. “Thank you for bringing him here.” As Moo gasped, a tiny vine shot up from the ground and wrapped around his ankle. 

“Wow. That’s really cool,” He said, gently shaking it off. “Uhm, why did you ask for me?” 

“I would like to ask you something. You don’t have to answer immediately, but that would be preferable,”

“If you know what a familiar is, then I won’t bother to explain. But, just in case, a familiar is an animal that chooses to serve one or more people. Different types of animals will give you different strengths, like a deer will give you speed while a fox gives you cunning. It is the same with people. As a familiar, it is my job to protect you as it is your job to protect me,

“If you’d like for me to become your familiar, repeat after me,” Moo nodded, sitting in front of her.

“As my familiar, it is your duty to serve and protect me, as it is my duty to serve and protect you.”

“As my familiar, it is your duty to serve and protect me, as it is my duty to serve and protect you.” He repeated. Moo’s and Ash’s eyes suddenly glowed gold and blue. The room was silent

“Through hardships and through trials, we will stick by each other’s side.”

“Through hardships and through trials, we will stick by each other’s side.” Their eyes glowed brighter, enveloping the room with light.

“Together we will stand against injustice as heroes and fight through darkness with our light. We are together.” Their voices nearly melded together near the end.

“We are one.” One last brilliant glow, then their eyes slowly returned back to normal. Moo blinked a few times, looking around the room. He lifted a hand, curling it into a weak fist.

“Am I supposed to feel something? I don’t feel any different.” He said. To the others, he very much looked different. His eyes were flecked with more gold and his hair was white tipped. He adorned a necklace of vines with an empty space where the gem would be. Ash looked different as well. Her eyes had more hints of green to them, breaking through the piercing blue. She was also wearing a necklace of vines with an empty hole and additional viney earrings on the tips of her ears. She held something like a whistle in her mouth.

“You may not feel different but you look different!” FourZer0 exclaimed. Basically vigorously nodded. Nogla floated a nearby silver mirror over into Moo’s hand. While he checked himself out, the rest focused their attention on Ash.

“It’s expected for you to look different after getting a familiar. You don’t feel different because we haven’t exactly bonded in the way that would cause my power to spill over into you.” She explained. Moo put the mirror down as she placed the whistle in his lap. The others started murmuring to each other.

“This is what you’d use to call me if you were in trouble.” He picked it up, examining the carved wood. There was a little string attached to the end, large enough that it would fit around his wrist. A little carving of a wolf—or dire wolf—sat in the middle, looking quite menacing with it’s bared teeth. He turned it over to reveal some ancient looking words. 

“Ash, what does this say?” He turned it towards her. She leaned forward, sniffed it, then sat back.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen symbols like this before.” She said. Moo made a noise and went back to examining the whistle. Terroriser reached forward and gently took the whistle from Moo to examine it himself, brushing their fingers together. A sharp blush crawled up to Moo’s cheeks.

Just then, loud voices came from outside the room, seemingly arguing about something. They stayed outside the door, continuing to argue, until one of them knocked. Vanoss got up from his spot to answer the door. 

“See, I told you she was right,” Lui said after Vanoss opened the door. “Anyway, Desdemona is calling us for a meeting in the auditorium. Everyone has to be there.” Delirious leaned over Lui’s shoulder, staring down at Brock and Ash.

“When did you get that cool necklace Moo? Oh, wait, lemme guess. Wildcat called you here so he could give it to you and ask you to be his boyfriend. Or, actually, it was definitely Terroriser,” Delirious pushed past Lui and Vanoss so he could squish Moo and Terroriser’s faces together. “You two would be, like, the cutest couple in school.” The room snickered as both thoroughly embarrassed parties spluttered.

“Delirious, he didn’t ask me to be his boyfriend!” Moo hissed.  _ And I’m very sure he wouldn’t want me to be.  _ A vine grew and gently smacked the masked boy behind his head.

“Oh. Oops,” Delirious rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry.” 

“Seriously Delirious, you need to stop jumping to conclusions,” Vanoss moved out of the way so Lui could also smack him behind the head himself. “It’s clearly a Familiar’s necklace.” He opened his shirt and revealed his own necklace, complete with a blue orb. 

“You have a familiar?” Moo asked. Lui nodded. 

“Yup. Right here.” A wolverine came around the corner, sniffing the air. She came toward Moo and sniffed his face, huffing out a conformant breath, like she had found her target.

“Alright, if there’s a meeting, we should go before the room gets too crowded.” Vanoss got them into gear and everyone walked out of the room, two by two. Ash went invisible again and followed behind them all. The wolverine stalked beside her, continually sniffing at where Ash would be until she got a warning growl. Moo meanwhile was messing with the woven necklace, feeling the powerful life flow through it. He placed his fingertip in the empty socket. 

Terroriser slowed from in front of him and walked next to him. He held his hand up to reveal the dire wolf whistle he had taken before then. Moo didn’t say anything and gently took it from him, brushing fingertips with a palm. A little red and yellow alstroemeria bloomed on Terrorisers palm, the tiger print petals standing out greatly. He raised an eyebrow and Brock shrank away, blushing, knowing exactly why it bloomed. Brian chuckled and handed him the flower, acting as if he picked it himself. Moo accepted the gift with playful flourish

Their little flirting session was interrupted when Vanoss asked a question, snapping them back to attention.

“So did Desdemona say what this meeting was about?” He asked Lui.

“I actually don’t know. My dad came to our room and told us, but he didn’t say what it was about,” Lui explained. “I don’t think he knew.” It did make sense. Desdemona seemed like a mysterious woman that liked to keep secrets, even from fellow teachers. 

“Well, great. We get to go to a mysterious meeting.” They walked through the doors of the auditorium. Many other students were already there. The velvet curtains were drawn but the stage was dark and empty. They all filed into the eighth row from the back, Moo sitting between Terroriser and Delirious. He almost forgot about Ash, until her invisible self hopped onto their laps, laying across them. Her tail thumped against Wildcat’s and Delirious’s stomach, much to their surprise.

“Ash! Why?!” Brock asked. His legs were being crushed under her large ribs.

“I would also like to see what this meeting is about. We are connected, remember?” She licked his face. Brock sighed, smiling.

“Okay.” He mumbled. Ash made a happy whining noise and licked his face again and again until he started petting her. It was funny how fast she went from a dire wolf that hated the Gaius name, to a dire wolf that acted like the happiest dog in the world. As the last of the students entered the auditorium, the house lights dimmed and the stage lights brightened. The teachers stepped onto the stage from each side, walking in single file lines. They met in the middle, or almost did, when Desdemona poofed into the middle of the stage. Instead of that simply delighted smile she gave on the first day, it was more excited and her eyes sparkled more than usual, which was saying something.

“Hello again students. Normally, we wouldn’t call you for another meeting out of the blue like this, but this is a very important announcement that just couldn’t wait. In just a few weeks, a special guest will be coming to our school to train a group of students. Can anyone guess who it is?” A few kids raised their hands and Desdemona pointed to someone in the front row.

“The president?” They said. The entire auditorium chuckled, including the teacher.

“Ah, no, unfortunately it’s not the president. In fact, it’s someone even more important. The special guest is none other than Mother Nature herself!” Moo’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. Terroriser and Delirious looked at him curiously.

“Bryn?” Ash muttered. She hopped off their laps and walked off away from the auditorium. The entire school murmured with confusion, excitement, confidence, and everything in between. Their group especially. But Brock? He was silent.

_ Mom? Coming here? But why? Surely it can’t be the reason Desdemona just said. She wouldn’t be coming for that kind of thing. And even if it’s true, she would message me first, or give more information. _

_ So what is really going on? _

Brock left the auditorium in a confused daze. Something didn’t feel right about his mother’s sudden appearance. Something was definitely wrong. Ash being gone didn’t help with his worry.

The thing is, his mother is a pretty straightforward person. She rarely beats around the bush unless she is trying to hide something. Train a group of students? Why? What for? Those unanswered questions were hints to her true reason. Yet it seemed no one else thought that way.

“Man, Mother Nature herself coming to this school. I wonder if she’s gonna pick us.” Vanoss took on a hopeful expression.

“There are thousands of kids in this school. What makes you think she’ll choose us?” Wildcat asked.

“What about his charms he keeps talking about?” Basically mentioned, giggling. 

Wildcat gave him a smug smile. “Oh yeah, those charms you keep mentioning. Why don’t you ever turn those on when a cute girl or guy is around?” He nudged him with his elbow. Vanoss’s tan face turned a darker shade than normal when he flinched.

“N-no reason. I just… don’t feel like they’re worthy of it, that’s all.” He stuttered. 

“Riiight.” Wildcat said. Basically laughed while Vanoss shrank down between them.

But it was all muffled banter to Moo. His focus was on something different.

Very small, inconspicuous vines were growing from inside the wall. They were so small, neither the wall or the paint fell apart as they grew. They curled and twisted into letters, creating a word that made his blood run cold.

  
  
  


_ Danger. _


	5. Earth Mother

Moo, Lui, and Delirious had all gone back to their room to discuss the new news. 

“So why do you think she wants to train some of us?” Lui asked.

_ Danger. _

“I dunno. Maybe she wants to find an apprentice to take care of the world when she’s gone.”

_ You already have so much sympathy for the world. You’d be a lovely Father Earth. _

“I’d probably make a great Father Earth. I can already talk to animals. I bet I’d be a natural at the other stuff.”

_ Danger. _

“Psh, I’d be a-a better Father Earth than you.”

“If you were Father Earth, the world would be destroyed in like, two seconds.”

_ Your kindness will save the world someday. _

_ Danger. _

“Well, what about, Brock? He can control plants  _ and  _ talk to animals.”

His name snapped him out of his trance.

“Huh? Oh, uh, I don’t know. I don’t do well under pressure and that kind of job seems like a  _ lot _ of pressure.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. Lui snorted.

“Oh come on, you’d be the perfect candidate! You can even feel plant’s pain.” Delirious explained. Moo flinched.

“Don’t remind me.” He said, grinning. They all looked up as the little bell for their next class rang. Brock automatically reached out to pat Ash’s head before he left, but instead patted air. The flower on the windowsill cringed when he gasped.

_ She’s… not here? But she’s basically attached to my hip. Where could she have gone?  _ His mind went to the moment when she left the auditorium after Desdemona had announced the surprise guest. She had muttered someone’s name… Bryn? He had no idea who that was, but he had an inkling.

“Moo, you coming?” Lui stood in the doorway, looking back at him. Brock snapped to attention.

“O-oh, yeah! I’m coming!” He shot off the bed and followed him out of the room. He took one last glance at the room. A few clothes were scattered about, lining the edges of Lui’s and Delirious’s bed (they finally got the third bed in there). Brock’s bed was neatly tucked, Lui’s bed was slightly ruffled, and Delirious’s was just a complete mess. The blinds and window lay open, letting the wind flow freely and the afternoon sun shine it’s rays into the room. The little bluebell on the windowsill was soaking up the light and warmth. It rose a little when he smiled.

_ It’s so peaceful, it’s hard to believe there’s imminent danger. But like I said, my mom is a straightforward person. I wonder how long that message took to get here. It was pretty convenient it was right after the meeting. Really, she’ll probably be here in a few more days instead of weeks, considering how fast she travels on land.  _ He gently closed the door, following his friends down the hall.

“All I hope is that she doesn’t have to leave.” He murmured.

(~-~)

“Alright class, today we are going to be doing something special, on account of the special guest sowing to our school,” Hestia Grand, the Science and Herbology teacher, clapped her hands. Everyone jumped to attention except for Brock. “Today, we are going to be making a transformation potion, but because you have other classes, we are only going to partly transform you. Your instructions are in the manual.” Brock opened his manual, trying not to focus on his partner leaning over his shoulder.

_ Of  _ course  _ I was paired with Terroriser. Of course! All the girls are going to hate me. I can already feel their glares.  _ It was true. All the girls were glaring at him, whispering to their partners while preparing the ingredients, clearly jealous of him. Moo was trying not to focus on them, cutting up hornworm uncomfortably. Terroriser was busy grating the pink rock salt into a bowl. He wished he could switch jobs.

_ Mix the hornworm and pink rock salt, and pour them into the cold water. Add crushed charcoal and add animal part of choice, then slowly stir for five minutes. Carefully pour finished mixture onto paper and present. _

“Which animal part are you going to use?” Terroriser asked randomly. Moo jumped.

“U-uh, well, I was deciding between a moose and a white-tailed deer. I think I might go for the moose.” He stuttered.

“I was thinking of a wolf. I’ve heard wolves hunt moose and deer, so I might have to hold myself back around you.” Terroriser smirked at him. A sharp blush slowly crawled up his face, forcing him to turn back to the potion. He added the moose hair and started to stir slowly, letting his thoughts wander. To Ash, to his mother, to the apparent imminent danger that was coming their way and was probably going to destroy them all. He might’ve accidentally gotten too nervous and lost focus, because large vines started growing around the room, curling around themselves and wrapping around the table legs. People exclaimed, backing off as the vines started doing their potions for them, taking the ingredients out of their hands. They murmured to each other for a moment, before laughing and letting the vines do the work. Lui and Delirious looked over at Moo, who was still stirring, not paying attention.

“Yo. Moo. You wanna tell us why you're trying to get extra credit?” Lui shouted from across the room. Brock looked up just as he was pouring the dust. He looked around the room and saw the vines pouring all the mixture dust onto the special paper. Before he could stop them, they were presented to the teacher. 

She gasped, looking at each vine. “Oh. Are these vines yours, Mr. Moo?” Hestia smiled at him.

“U-uh, yes, sorry. It just… happens sometimes.” He rubbed the back of his neck, blushing profusely.

“Well, since everyone is finished, we can get the fun part started.” She took one paper and walked over to the person that made the dust, and blew it in their face. The girl sneezed and cat ears and tail sprouted spontaneously from her body. Everyone gasped and muttered in excitement. Hestia motioned to Moo. He understood and let the vines bring the transformation dust to the correct people. The room filled with multicolored dust as their partners blew the potions at the others, letting an array of animal parts sprout from everyone. The vine holding Terroriser’s dust fell in front of Moo. His fell in front of Terroriser.

“One at a time?” Brock suggested. Terroriser nodded. Brock took a deep breath and blew the red dust into his face. He watched as auburn wolf ears and tail sprouted from his body. His eyes seemed to glow with how blue they turned.

“Alright. Your turn.” Terroriser lifted the dust and blew it into Brock’s face. His nose tickled, making him sneeze. He felt fluffy ears pop into the place of his own and a short tail appeared from his tailbone. After, there was nothing.

“Aren’t there supposed to be—“ Terroriser started, but was interrupted by Moo stumbling, growing giant hand-scoop shaped antlers larger than his head. Their color was a beautiful golden brown, like the color of his eyes, spreading out and up like the branches of an acacia tree. They looked fluffy, yet the tips were sharp.

“Woah, dude! Those are so awesome!” Delirious came up and stared excitedly at his antlers. He was adorned with raccoon ears and a ringed tail. A black mask lay around his eyes, brightening them greatly.

“Moo? Moose? What’s next, you get a pet cow?” Lui came up behind him, pointing his prehensile tail. A bit more hair lay on the sides of his face, kind of like mini sideburns. Moo grinned bashfully.

“No. Just this.” He said. Sounds were more prominent now, especially the murmuring of other students. He was probably going to have a headache for weeks.

The little bell rang once more.

Everyone started packing up for their next classes. Lui and Delirious waved goodbye, knowing he would meet them eventually. As Moo was cleaning the station, Terroriser came up beside him.

“You good over here? I’m pretty sure you’re not the type to spontaneously grow vines from the walls.” He joked. 

“You’re right, I’m not. It just… happens when I get nervous. I just didn’t think they would do work, because normally they’re wrapping themselves around me.” He demonstrated by growing a smaller vine to wrap around his hand.

“What were you nervous about?” Terroriser asked. Brock didn’t know how to answer. Could he tell him, or really, should he?

It took a second for him to answer. “Uhm… meet me in the garden at the back of the school. I’ll tell you then.” Moo ran out of the room before Terroriser could say anything. He almost fell over a few times with the added weight of his horns, but was able to balance and continue on to his next class. Elementalism, known as one of the hardest classes in school. He could hear Delirious and Lui’s voices at the end of the hall, courtesy of his newly found ears.

“Ah, there he is. C’mon, class is starting.” Lui grabbed his arm with his tail and pulled him to the doorway, only to be stopped when his antlers didn’t fit, almost causing him to fall backwards. Moo sighed.

“Maybe I shouldn’t have chosen a moose.” He mumbled. Turning his head sideways, he walked into the room like a crab, ignoring the giggles that ran around the room.

“Good. Now that you three are here, we can get started. Please take a seat,” Mr. Ember motioned to the tables. “Transformation potions, I presume?” They all nodded, taking their seats. Once the teacher started to talk about the benefits of mixing elements, Moo realized something.

“Lui, I’m pretty sure you're not an Elementalist. Why are you here?” He whispered.

“Remember I told you, I asked my dad if he could put me in the same classes as you guys. That includes Elementalism.” He whispered back. Moo’s ear flicked indistinctly as he turned his head back to the teacher. 

“Now, as you know, we have three water elements, three fire elements, two wind elements, three earth elements, one storm element, one ice element and one nature element,” He motioned to everyone in order. Brock took notice of Mini, FourZer0, and Basically sitting across the room.“Normally, we would be working on perfecting those elements, but for now, we will be working on combining those elements in combat. It can be the difference between victory or defeat. Follow me to the battlefield.” Mr. Ember moved from his desk. Everyone got up and followed him through the door, except for Brock, who already managed to forget the giant antlers on his head. He clicked his tongue in annoyance when his friends laughed. As they walked through the empty halls, he tried not to let his mind wander to his mother, and instead to the many flowers and plants he knew to distract his mind.

_ Daisy, sunflower, forsythia, protea, lily of the valley, bluebell, bird of paradise, corpse flower, jade vine, dandelion, lavender, apple blossom, cherry blossom… _ He stopped at the last. Brock remembered when his mother grew a cherry blossom grove in their yard (Which was basically the whole world) so they could watch the petals float away in the wind, the way they would in Japan. He remembered the feeling of the blossoms brushing against his cheek, the way they filled the sky and their soft pastel pink color. If he closed his eyes and thought hard enough, he could visualize the trees…

Moo flinched when something brushed against his cheek. He opened his eyes to see a cherry blossom petal float past. He glanced back, wondering where it came from, until someone tapped his shoulder.

“How?” Lui whispered, pointing to his antlers. Moo slowly lifted his hand and felt soft petals had bloomed on his now tree-like antlers. Apparently, while thinking about cherry blossoms, he had managed to turn his moose antlers into mini cherry blossom trees in bloom. But, because he lost focus, the flowers disappeared and the antlers turned back to their normal golden brown.

They exited the school and came to the battlefield. Moo didn’t have very good memories with this place just yet, but maybe that could change. Or not, considering they had three fire element students around an entire forest of trees. Definitely not gonna change anytime soon.

“Okay class, let’s get started. Will the flame and the earth elements please step to the center of the battlefield. Everyone else, go to the sidelines,” Brock moved with the rest of the group to the sides, letting a mini garden grow around his feet. Bees came from absolutely nowhere and started resting on the flora. Mr. Ember clasped his hands together and created a wall of earth around seven feet tall. “First, you will combine fire and earth to destroy this wall in one fell swoop.” He backed off to the sidelines with the rest of the class. Instead of focusing on how their powers combined, Brock focused on jungle vines, curious to how his antlers changed with the thought.

He thought of how they draped from the trees, covering the bark in thick coils. Their strength and their abundance also came to mind, along with their deep green color that matched the trees. He tried to remember the feeling they had from his last visit to the jungle. Rough yet soft, tough yet fragile...

Something fell on top of Moo’s nose, making him jump.

“Dude, it happened again.” Lui whispered, picking up a vine draped over his friend’s shoulder.

“I know. This time I did it on purpose.” Moo whispered back, letting the vines grow longer. Their classmate had just finished destroying the wall with the lava they created. 

“Good job! Earth elements, you may step off the field. Wind elements, please step up.” Mr. Ember removed the obsidian from the field so the next group would have a clean slate. Moo carefully brushed the vine from his face and willed them to disappear. 

_ I wonder what Terroriser is doing…  _ He thought, watching the group create a flame tornado to destroy the new wall Mr. Ember had made. He called up Mini and FourZer0 next, instructing them to create some kind of storm. The alstroemeria flower floated to his mind as he remembered when he accidentally bloomed one in Terroriser’s hand. Instead of thinking about that, he thought of the red and yellow alstroemeria long and hard. The way they looked like flames, their regality…

Regality. Ash had mentioned that when they first met. She was saying how the meadow and the forest wasn’t very regal. He wasn’t quite sure what she meant, because the forest there was the prettiest green he had ever seen, even prettier than the jungle. The sea green color seemed to shine in the sun, complimenting the grayish-brown color of the tree trunks. The way the leaves sprayed over the light green meadow was beautiful. Brock could only imagine what it looked like inside the forest, especially during a summer night when the fireflies were out. Yes, he really couldn’t understand why Ash thought it wasn’t regal.

After the two had created a hailstorm that obliterated the wall, Mr. Ember turned to the last remaining students. “Alright next is the water elements and… Moo? What’s going on with your antlers?” Mr. Ember asked. He looked up to see everyone looking at him, confused and curious. He was momentarily stunned and a bit worried, until he saw the shiny sea green leaf fly past his face.

“O-oh! Uh, this is just a thing that… happens when I uh, think about certain plants in detail. It’s no big deal.” He heard the gray bark and leaves disappear back into the golden antlers. Stepping forward, he joined the water elements in the middle of the field. One boy, one girl, and Delirious. The girl was dark skinned and blue haired, appropriate for her element. She had highlights of blue mascara on her eyes along with some lipstick. She seemed really into the water vibe. The boy was significantly more normal than the girl, sporting sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes. The only thing that was certain, was that they were much more confident in themselves. That much was obvious.

“Now, you four will create a blast of some sorts to destroy this wall. You must use a plant of Moo’s creation to shoot the blast.” Mr. Ember backed off to the sidelines. Brock briefly combed through his extensive knowledge of plant’s, thinking of the best one, until he stopped at the pitcher plant. He let the image run through his mind before kneeling to the ground, placing his hands in the soft, water fed grass, feeling every breath of life. With how nutrient and damp this soil was, he’d have no problem creating a giant pitcher plant.

The class watched in surprise as a giant green and red pitcher plant grew from the ground, opening it’s top to allow water inside. The other three were stunned for a moment until they siphoned water from the air and ground, placing it inside the plant. Moo closed the lid with a flick of his finger, making the plant enlarge its bottom half, then quickly constrict it, shooting out a bullet of water. The water went right through the wall and past it, falling into the woods. 

“Well done you four! Especially you Moo. What kind of plant was that?” Everyone walked up to him, chattering about the plant bullet. 

“U-uhm, it was just a pitcher plant… they grow in tropical places,” He murmured, shrinking away. “I-it’s no big deal.” The little bell rang it’s three chimes, giving him an ample reason to escape his awestruck classmates. He quickly shuffled to the door and made his way to Universal Energy, ignoring the shouts of his friends behind him. Luckily, the classroom was close by, so he zoomed inside, gently closing the door behind him.

“Oh, Moo. I see you’re excited for Universal Energy.” Mrs. Genesis (mouthful much?) said from behind the desk.

“Ah… yeah. I, uh, heard we were talking about Mother Nature, so I guess I got a little excited.” He lied through his teeth. It made an uncomfortable twang start up in his heart. He shook off the feeling and took a seat in the middle, taking in the scene of the classroom.

The class of Universal Energy was beautiful, overlooked by a sea of shining stars and surrounded by galaxies that twinkled on the black walls. Colors ranging from purple to green dusted the noir expanse. The stars seemingly spun when one looked at them, blurring together like a vortex of shining light. Each table was painted the color of a planet, with the teachers desk being the sun. Brock was currently sitting at the Saturn table. 

_ If we’re talking about my mom, I have no real reason to listen. I grew up with her for basically all my life. I know more about her than Mrs. Genesis or anyone here does.  _ He hunkered down in his seat and prepared for the tedious lecture.

(~-~)

Trekking through the forest with twenty exhausted and sweaty teenagers was not the most enjoyable part of the day. Many people were constantly complaining about itches, the humidity and the heat, how hungry they were, how tired or bored they were. Their teacher ignored them and continued on, mentioning random factoids about plants they passed. Nobody cared.

The only thing keeping them going was the prospect of a break afterwards. Fortunately for Brian, he had a few friends to endure it with.

“Man, even being born in the depths of Hell doesn’t make this any more comfortable.” Cartoonz said, wiping his brow.

“You were born in the depths of Hell?” Ohm asked. He carefully stepped over a suspicious shrub.

“Yeah. Technically I’m half human, so I can switch back and forth, but I haven’t quite manifested my ‘demon side’ just yet.” He said, using air quotations. 

“You're lucky you can switch back and forth. Human parts heal, cyborg parts don’t. It’s a fockin’ pain replacing the metal.”

“But don’t you have a Nogla to replace it?” Ohm asked, looking around Cartoonz.

“Like I said, a fockin’ pain.” He grumbled. Sure, he loved his brother, but more often than not, he couldn’t stand the guy. And most of the time he couldn’t even understand him. Gibberish took up more of his vocabulary than English. 

Brian took a glance at a red tulip peeking out from in between tree roots. It reminded him of the flower Moo had bloomed in his hand, presumably on accident, while taking back the whistle. He seemed very,  _ very  _ embarrassed about it. Maybe a bit too embarrassed? It was just a flower after all.

That memory jogged another, more recent one. At the end of their Science and Herbology class, Brian had asked Moo about why he grew giant vines in nervousness and got the answer, ‘meet me in the garden at the back of the school. I’ll tell you then’. Vague and intriguing. Intriguing indeed. He sighed, smiling like an idiot as he thought of the adorable boy. Now he couldn’t even deny the fact that he had a crush on him. Fuck, he was head over heels for him! Those large, doe brown eyes that glowed golden in the sun, that sweet shy smile, even his voice was like sweet honey to his non-mechanical ear. He had to not freak out after the whole familiar thing, because of the way it highlighted his beauty. Delirious did not help with hiding this.

When the group stopped to rest in a clearing, Terroriser cleared his thoughts of the nature boy and focused (half-focused) on the teacher when he started to speak. 

“Okay class, we’re going to rest here for a bit,” Collective sighs of relief ran around the class as bodies fell to the ground. “Make sure you at least look at some kind of plant or try to find an animal of some kind.” Some quiet groans started but were drowned out by the voices that slowly rose up in volume. Ohm and Cartoonz took a spot under a tree, chatting quietly to themselves, looking a bit too eager to be alone together. Brian paid no mind of it and took a spot by some brush. His human leg throbbed with fatigue, but the cybernetic one was as still as ever, mechanical and lifeless. 

Closing his eyes, Brian sighed quietly, leaning his head back on the rough bark of the tree, making sure his new tail wasn’t crushed against his back. Desdemona’s announcement still rang true in everyone’s minds. Many of the students were still talking about it, excited that she was coming to  _ their  _ school, curious to what she would teach them, and confident that she would choose them to be her apprentices. It would probably be the talk of the school all the way up until she came and months after she had chosen who to train. The great mysterious Mother Earth, the unseen goddess, caretaker of the earth itself. Everyone was ecstatic… except for Moo. To be honest, he looked surprised and kinda scared. Maybe his parents told him some scary stories when he was little, or heard some random folklore, but having Mother Nature herself come to your school shouldn’t be a scary thing. He should be happy like the rest of the school. But for some reason, he wasn’t. Maybe he had a bad run in with her? No, nobody has seen her before and that included him. Maybe he had bad experiences with nature. No, he can literally control it, how could he possibly—

_ Fock, this is too much thinking. Hopefully he’ll explain when we talk.  _ Terroriser stood up and ran his hand through his hair in exhaustion. He decided to clear his mind by taking a small walk through the glimmering forest. His tail brushed gently against the ground as he weaved through trees and dove under low-hanging branches. The way his ears turned to every minuscule sound was incredibly annoying. Luckily, the transformation dust would wear off in a few minutes.

Brian sighed, feeling the breeze run through his hair. He closed his eye and let his feet guide him. It reminded him so much of his past home. Walking through the woods as a child, jumping over roots and playing with sticks, not a care in the world. Until, of course, one moment. In that one year, his entire life changed in a single moment.

_ They ran through the twisted tree trunks, giggling and laughing. _

_ “Brine, wait up!” David called after his brother. _

_ “You have longer legs, you can catch up!” Brian called back to him, glancing back at his little brother. _

_ “But I’m tired!” David whined. Brian slowed down and let his brother catch up to him. The ravenette was red faced and huffing as he slowly walked next to Brian.  _

_ “You have longer legs den me but yer still slower. How is that?” The brunette asked. David sighed. _

_ “You have way more energy den me, Brine. Where do ya store it all?”  _

_ “Somewhere you’ll never know.” Brian playfully nudged his brother in the ribs, getting nudged back. They continued walking, occasionally nudging each other, until David spoke up. _

_ “I’m tirsty. I’m gonna go ask mum for some water.” He said, already turning around. _

_ “Alright. Make sure you bring some for me!” Brian called as his brother started jogging back to the house. The brunette continued on his way through the forest, staring down at the ground so he didn’t trip on any roots. It was nearly fall, so leaves were starting to change into their fiery colors, falling and covering the earth in flames. A cold breeze swept through his hair, sending a shiver through his body. After a while of walking, he came across a giant white cylinder with a pool of liquid around it. The liquid looked thick and had colors dancing along the surface. The white cylinder was laying on a slab of concrete and looked as if it was supposed to be on a metal stand, but had fallen over, the beams under it twisted. A giant wooden pole with electricity sparking out of a white box was sitting in front of the oil and the cylinder. Brian thought nothing of it and simply walked through the liquid, staining his feet with it. _

_ Meanwhile, back at the house, David was getting water bottles from his mom. _

_ “Remember to tell yer brother to stay away from te cooking oil spill. I hear there was a fallen electrical pole over there.” His mom told him, handing him two water bottles. _

_ “Alright mum, I’ll remember.” He promised. She smiled and gently patted his head. He turned to go back into the forest, happy as can be and excited to keep playing with his older brother. _

_ That is, until there was a giant explosion. _

_ The booming sound made him jump as it echoed through the field. The sky filled with a giant plume of black smoke, the horizon glowing bright orange, directly where his brother was. The water bottles fell out of David’s hands as his mother let out a bloodcurdling scream. He started running toward the explosion site, hoping, pleading that his brother was not there. He ran faster than he ever had before, jumping over roots and weaving through the trees. _

_ “Brian!” He yelled out. “Brian?!” Smoke started to fill his lungs, making him cough and slow down. He squinted through the smoke, feeling his eyes burn, searching for his brother. As he got closer, he could see charred pieces of wood scattered on the also charred grass. Flames burned somewhere nearby, casting an orange glow across the broken clearing. The sides of trees had been blown off and some had even fallen over with the force of the explosion, bark scattered everywhere. White rusty metal with the edges burned off into an ugly brown curled outward, part of the cause of the explosion, while a broken in half utility pole was on the other side. David could feel the energy fading from both of them. But he also felt the energy of iron. Iron from blood. _

_ “Brian?” He called, voice raspy from breathing in smoke. He continued walking forward, coughing all the way. A trail of blood led him to the still body of his brother, face up to the sky. _

_ “Brian!” David screeched, running over. “Oh, no, no, no…” Brian was limp in his arms, his entire left half blown off and mutilated, leaving only ripped muscle and burned broken bone behind. Tears streamed freely down David’s cheeks, horrified at the sight he was given. He stood up and started jogging back to the house, sniffling. He hoped to god his brother was still alive. _

_ “Da...vid?” The ravenette looked down into the single cloudy blue eye that held so much pain. _

_ “Brine! Are ye okay? Or-or sort of okay?” He didn’t stop running as he asked. _

_ “It… hurts. Nogla it hurts…” Brian’s voice was almost lost when a gust of wind blew through. Singed leaves and ashes flew past them as he jumped through the last line of trees. Their mother and father were waiting for them, running out to meet them halfway. _

_ “I’ll save ye. I promise.” _

_ (~-~) _

_ “Oh, my poor baby!” Their mother wailed as he ran out of the forest. _

_ “Is he okay?” Their father asked. _

_ “Barely.” David said running past them. Despite only being nine years old, he knew what to do in these situations, making a good few prosthetics for hurt animals. This situation was a bit more extreme though. _

_ “Please stay alive.” _

_ (~-~) _

_ He didn’t know how long it had been since that moment. He was left in darkness, only remembering a vision of his younger brother carrying him away from the explosion, tears running down his face. _

_ “I’ll save ye. I promise.” Were the words echoing through his brain. Whether he was dead or alive, he didn’t know, but for now, he would wait. _

_ Left in his thoughts, Brian wondered how he even got in this situation. His mother always said childhood was supposed to be carefree. What happened to that? Where did that freedom go? Why him? _

_ Then he thought about his brother. They loved each other as much as a brother should, valuing their relationship more than normal siblings would. That fact was, they weren’t normal. Well, David wasn’t, anyway. His little brother was always special, being able to control metal and all. He was a prodigy in mechanics, able to memorize any electrical or mechanical component, building toys and prosthetics at the age of six. Brian always loved that side of him the most, knowing how happy it made the ravenette. It made everyone happy. He even made a little moving doll, just for Brian, once when he was sick. He was so grateful he had a brother like him… _

_ (~-~) _

_ Groaning, Brian slowly opened his eyes, or really eye, to a practically blinding light. There was a black void where his left eye was supposed to be. The memories suddenly came flooding back in a tidal wave. _

_ David… Where was his brother? _

_ Brian slowly sat up, now seeing he was in their room, in his bed. Sunlight streamed in through the cracked-but-still-working window, blowing in a bit of air that shifted the curtains. The worn wooden floor was covered in metal scraps and screws, tools and a giant red toolbox. He briefly wondered what the younger was so vigorously working on, until he threw off the covers and saw that his left leg and arm were now mechanical. Brian started freaking out, hyperventilating, until he let out a scream. Footsteps thundered toward him and the door slammed open. His family stood in the doorway, staring, as he stared back. They looked disheveled and extremely tired, as if they hadn't slept for weeks _

_ “Brine!” David ran over and suddenly hugged him. “I’m so glad yer okay! Do the prosthetics work? Do they feel okay?” When he pulled away, Brian could see the bags under his little brother’s eyes. _

_ “Uh… I tink so. What happened to my arm?” He asked. _

_ “O-oh. The uh… the explosion blew it off. Along with yer leg and eye.” _

_ “Yer brother saved your life, Brian.” The brunette looked over at his little brother, who’s pale cheeks and turned pinkish-red. _

_ “I-it wasn’t much. They’re just prototypes anyway…” He mumbled bashfully. _

_ “Prototypes or not, ye saved me. Tanks David.” _

_ “No problem, Brine.” _

The sweet song of the school bell rang in the distance. Brian opened his eyes, revealing the present time. He sighed and got up, looking down at his robotic arm for a moment, flexing the fingers, listening to the servos move. He smiled and started walking out of the forest and to the garden. Sea green leaves followed after him, blowing wind through his hair.

He had to remember to thank his brother again today.


	6. Green Carnations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just the bois being awkward

Moo inhaled, then exhaled slowly, keeping his eyes closed. The only sounds he heard were the sounds of breathing, and birds chirping outside. He was sitting in a little garden patch for focus class. Delirious was sitting in a pool of crystal clear water, while Lui was sitting around with a few animals. Brock could hear their chittering from two patches away.

“Oh, I love how quiet it is in here. It’s quieter than the forest.” The rabbit squeaked in her Scottish accent.

“Yes, yes. And it is less dangerous.” The siamese cat purred in her posh British accent. She was draped over Lui’s shoulders, relaxed as only a cat could be. Brock never understood why certain animals had different accents, but at this point, he stopped asking.

Taking another deep breath, he tried not to focus on the voices, but the feelings of the plants around him. He had managed to bloom green carnations and yellow acacia plants, accidentally letting his mind wander to Terroriser at the beginning of class. The class marveled at the bright colors, but he, as per usual, just blushed.

“And did you know there was a Gaius in here?” The cat whispered.

“Really? Where?” The rabbit lifted her head and looked around.

“That one. Right there, with the flowers around him.” Both animals looked over at him, and he looked at them out of the corner of his eye.

The rabbit gasped. “He’s looking over at us. Do you think he can hear us?” Moo pursed his lips and nodded discreetly, accidentally blooming a few petunias. The both squeaked and stopped talking. Somehow, Lui dismissed all of their banter and continued calling in random animals from the open window. A few, however, hovered by Moo.

“Alright class, you may now relax and open your eyes,” Mrs. Dove said, in her soft, calm voice. “Hopefully that session helped you connect with your elements better. Maybe even extend to a new one.” She giggled and glanced at Moo’s head. Everyone else looked over and chuckled, staring at something on his head. Since his antlers disappeared a little while ago, he didn’t quite get it, until Delirious spoke up.

“There's a little birdy on your head, Moo.” He said, pointing to his hair. Brock lifted his hand, to feel a little bird in the crown of his head.

“Oh. Excuse me, sir,” The bird hopped off of his head and hovered in front of him. It was a sword-billed hummingbird. Brock let him use his finger as a perch. “I have just come a long way in search of flowers. The ones in the forest are much too contested and my beak barely fits inside of them. I’m so tired, your head looked like a nest.” The hummingbird bowed in apology. Brock briefly looked around, hoping the attention was off of him, before he answered.

“Oh, it’s alright. You were just tired. Here, eat.” Moo placed his hand on the grass and bloomed red tubular flowers, as long as the hummingbirds beak. He made another little branch beside it and moved his finger so the hummingbird could perch there.

“Thank you, Gaius.” The little bell rang it’s three chimes once more, signifying the end of class.

“If you want, you can hang out in my room. You can rest there until you’re ready to fly again.” He suggested, making sure to keep his voice down. People were walking past him, a few looking at him curiously.

“That would be lovely.” Brock allowed the hummingbird to sit on his head again before standing up to follow his friends, who were already out the door.

Moo came up next to them, catching part of the conversation.

“I felt like the water was talking to me.” Delirious said wistfully.

“Delirious… it’s water. How the hell could it talk to you?” Lui asked, looking at his friend like he was crazy.

“Well, with the waves and-and the ripples and shit.”

“You are a psychopath.”

“I am not a damn-a damn psychopath!” He shouted. The air turned a bit more humid around them. Brock rolled his eyes fondly as he turned off to the housing hallway. The other two didn’t even notice his absence, continuing to argue passionately. Their voices faded away behind him.

“I’ll leave you in my room for a little. I just have to do something real quick.” He told the hummingbird.

“Do whatever you need.” Entering the sunlit room, he gently placed the hummingbird on the windowsill, touched the soil in the ceramic pot, and bloomed the tubular flowers he needed. Brock waved goodbye and left the room.

Playing with his hair, he thought about what he was going to say to Terroriser. How does one tell a friend you're the son of a literal goddess? ‘Hi, my name’s Brock Gaius and I’m the son of Mother Nature. Also I have a huge crush on you.’ A few pink begonias bloomed in his hair, along with a red rose or two. Moo sighed, hoping to god his anxiety wouldn’t kill him and went outside. A trail of green carnations followed behind him while butterflies fluttered around his head and landed on the flowers. Animal came from the forest, sensing his anxiety, walking beside him. He idly pet a fallow deer, playing with the familiars necklace, and maybe growing a vine or two around the dire wolf whistle.

Just as he came over the hill, he spotted a figure wandering on the grass. By the way a part of him shined, Brock assumed it was Terroriser pacing. He took a deep breath, trying to shove the anxiety down, before marching toward the Irish cyborg. About halfway down, Terroriser spotted him coming and waved. Brock nervously waved back.

The mechanical brunette was smiling widely when he came up to him. “Hey there Moo Moo. Those flowers are nice.” He lifted his metal hand and weaved his fingers through the brunette’s hair. Brock felt his ears burning at the cute nickname and the hand touching his head.

“Hey, Terroriser. I uh… hope you don’t mind the company.” He motioned to the fallow beside him.

“Nah, I don’t mind. All company is welcome.” Terroriser took his hand off of Moo’s head— him already missing the feeling—to pet the doe. While he was doing that, their eyes met, golden grown on cloudy blue. Terroriser looked down at him with a look of adoration and something along the lines of… lust?! Moo felt his face burn, his eyes darting down to the doe. A soft chuckle came from the Irishman.

“Wh-why don’t we sit down?” He said quickly, trying to keep from blooming roses and alstroe’s. He sat down in the grass, causing it to flourish around him, and patted the spot next to him. Terroriser complied and sat down next to him. Moo could hear the whirring of the mechanics in his arm and leg as he did, but got a bit distracted when the fallow licked his face.

“So… what were you gonna tell me?” They looked over the hill just as the wind blew the grass in waves of green. Birds floated overhead on the breeze, gliding silently on the zephyr.

“Well, first, do you have any questions for me? I feel like this would answer a lot of them.” Moo said, twiddling his thumbs. He wasn’t quite ready to say what he wanted to say just yet.

“Alright. Hmm, what to ask you… ah, I’ve got it. Which one of my friends, including me, do you think has the best power?” Moo blinked at the off rail question. He was expecting a question about him.

“Oh, uh, well… I think Vanoss has a pretty cool power. It’s rare to see a phoenix.” He said. Terroriser pouted.

“Aw. I thought ye would pick my power.”

“Being a cyborg isn’t technically a power.”

“Fock. I didn’t think about that.” Terroriser murmured. Brock quietly giggled. The fallow moved into his lap and started licking Terroriser’s mech arm, looking for attention. The cyborg chuckled and pet her head.

“Kay, next question. What is your real name?”

“It’s… Brock.” He smiled as he said it.

There was a pause, Terroriser looking dumbstruck for a second. “...heh, nice to meet ya Brock. My name’s Brian. Pleasure to make yer acquaintance.” He held out his non-mechanical hand. Moo shook it, but when he let go, he couldn’t pull away due to the vine growing from the whistle that had wrapped itself around Brian’s finger. A blush slowly crawled down his neck and burned the tips of his ears. Even Brian seemed to be a bit embarrassed, a shade of pink dusting his cheek.

“Uh, I-I’m sorry. I swear, I-I didn’t mean—“

“It’s okay. I don’t mind.” Instead of pulling away, Brian instead intertwined their fingers, resulting in a sort of weird hand hug. The Irishman chuckled and tried to switch hands, somehow able to untangle the vine and re-wrap it around his mechanical hand and intertwine their fingers; correctly, this time. This time, pink peonies bloomed around them as Brock blushed.

“Huh. It seems that every time I’m around ye, a different flower blooms. Why is that?” The nature child gulped.

“Well… usually when I have a strong emotion of some type, a flower blooms out of my control. It’ll happen less often when I learn to control my powers better.”

“I could’ve sworn I heard that from my mum before… flowers have meanings, right?” Brian asked. Brock nodded slowly, as if he wasn’t sure. “What flower means tankfulness? Or-or gratitude?” Brian was leaning in with hope and intent. Moo blinked, a bit caught off guard by the question.

“Well, uh, let’s see… pink roses,” He bloomed an example next to them. “Mean gratitude, appreciation and admiration. There’s also the hydrangea, which means gratitude for being understood. But, why would you need those?”

“Ah, they’re for my brother. To thank him,” Brian gave him a sweet smile, but it faltered when he saw the confused look on Brock’s face. “He saved my life. When… we were younger.”

“Oh… he did?” Terroriser let go of his hand, the vine allowing him to move away. He wiggled his mechanical fingers.

“Yup. At nine years old, he saved his older brother,” Brian laughed at the surreality. It felt like it was so long ago, yet yesterday at the same time. He leaned back his head and looked at the sky. “That dorky little fucker saved my life, and I’ll thank him every day, until the day I die.” Brock didn’t say anything. Only the sound of birds and the wind filled the silence.

“Wow. What happened?”

Brian sighed. “It started somewhere out in te country. It was just me, mum, dad, and of course, Nogla. It was a small cottage and we were far from civilization, but we were happy. When Nogla was five, we found out he had powers, and a prowess for mechanics. At te age of _five._ How crazy is that? Anyway, some years later, me and him were running out in te woods like we always did. Nothing was different from any other time. Nogla went to go get some water bottles, so I kept going… somehow, I found this cooking oil spill and like, a fallen electrical pole. Stupid little me didn’t think to go somewhere else and walked right through it. I didn’t think anyting would happen… boy was I wrong. I don’t really remember much from after that. Only searing, _burning_ pain and Nogla carrying me away. After that, I woke up with a mech arm, leg, and eye. If he didn’t have those powers, I probably would be dead.” Brock was silent, listening to the story. He could hear in Brian’s voice that he was truly grateful, as anyone should be. The way he smiled was soft and reminiscent, but also filled with a pain Brock could never understand.

“That’s… amazing,” Brock said, smiling. “He sounds great. Incredible, even.”

“Alright, don’t compliment him too much. He's still a big dork,” Brian joked, chuckling. “But he’s my dork. And I make sure to let him know.” They sat in a comfortable silence. Moo thought it was extraordinary to have someone so young save your life. It was also extraordinary to think someone almost died that young.

Brock bloomed—purposefully this time—proteas beside Terroriser’s leg, making them brush against him so he would notice.

The cyborg did and looked down in confusion. “What’re these?”

“Proteas. The flower of bravery.”

“Ah. Tanks.” They smiled at each other, then went silent again. Birds soared from the forest to where they were sitting, landing on Brock’s head and shoulders. Bees buzzed over to the flower crown, landing silently on the pistil. The fallow was sitting between them now, resting her head on Brian’s knee. A fox had appeared from the shining forest, trotting over and plopping itself in Brock’s lap, making quiet gekkering sounds (the world's strangest word). The brunette started gently petting it as if it had always been there. Brian had been noticing how animals just randomly came out of nowhere, gravitating towards the shy brunette. The incident with the dire wolf was enough to say so. He also noticed how Brock never once questioned it, as if this was just a daily occurrence.

“Hey… Brock?” He quietly called.

“Hm?” The other looked over at him, eyes shining golden under the sunlight.

“Why are all these animals… here?” Brock stared at him blankly for a few seconds, as if he didn’t hear the question, then suddenly jumped, startling the fox.

“O-oh, right, that. They do that because of the thing I was going to tell you,” He looked like he wanted to stop talking there, but when Brian raised an eyebrow, he spilled. “The thing is about M-Mother Nature.” He cursed himself for stuttering

Brian leaned forward in excited anticipation, as expected. “What about Mother Nature?” 

“Uh, well, the thing is… I’m kinda… her son. Like, biologically.” The air seemed to still around them as Brock waited for a reaction.

“You’re Mother Nature’s son.” The intrigue in Brian’s voice was gone, replaced by something more along the lines of doubt. Brock couldn’t help but flinch at the tone, even knowing that it was a hard thing to believe.

“Yyyeaah.” 

“Seriously?” Brock nodded twice, playing with the hem of his shirt. The vixen leaned up and gently licked his chin, sensing his distress. He was getting afraid that Brian wouldn’t believe him. His heart felt like it was about to explode, pounding against his fragile rib cage.

The cyborg paused, scanning Brock’s face intensely, before squinting his eye. The brunette watched his face switch from confusion, concentration, and finally, surprise.

“Holy shit. That actually explains a lot,” Brock leaned back when Brian got closer, looking at him with great amazement and wonder in that shining blue eye. Even the robotic half looked excited. Brock could see the red lens contracting and dilating over and over again, and even a few discreet freckles hiding on his cheeks. “That’s amazin’! What’s she like? Do you know how powerful she is? What does she look like?” The fallow doe made a distasteful sound when Brian’s leg moved as he leaned in.

“You really like getting close, don’t you?” Brock hadn’t really meant to say that out loud, but the word slipped out of his lips before he could stop them. A blush suddenly crawled from Brian’s cheek down to his neck as he slowly leaned backward, chuckling quietly.

“M’sorry. I lived in a kind of touchy-feely family, so sometimes I don’t realize when I do that.” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. 

Brock licked his lips. “It’s fine. I just noticed how you do that when you’re excited,” He giggled, not noticing how Terroriser was staring at his lips. “I think it’s nice how comfortable you are with people. I could never be like that.” He smiled. A few red and white striped camellias bloomed beside him. The little area around them was starting to look like a mini flower garden with how many were blooming. More butterflies and bees came as well.

Brian stared at the ethereal beauty that was Moo. The sunlight shined perfectly off of his white tipped chestnut hair, turning the ends a glowing golden color. His eyes looked so… god-like, practically radiated, shining colors of green and gold, the brown completely gone. The butterflies that fluttered around his hair gave him an elegant look, along with the sparkling sea green leaves blowing behind him, he truly did look like a goddesses son.

_Fuck, I’m in love._

“H-huh?” A red blush bloomed high on Brock’s cheeks. Brian realized he said that out loud.

“I-I, uh…” He stuttered, trying to find the right words. “I did not mean to say that out loud.” He murmured, covering his burning face with a hand. Brock was just about to say something before he was interrupted by a sly chuckle.

“My, my. What a cute little creature he is,” The vixen purred, looking up at him with her honey-gold eyes. “He’s quite the looker, isn’t he, little godling?” A French accent tinged her words as she gekkered, shifting in his lap.

“Uh… I guess you could say that.” Brock muttered, looking up at his blushing friend through his eyelashes. Despite having half his body robotic, Brian was still handsome on the other. His hair was the color of umber, the sunlit parts shining a tawny color. The eye he still had was a cloudy blue color that nearly turned white in the light. It was like he was a god himself.

He looked away when the Irishman looked up. “Hm?”

Moo jumped. “Oh, nothing. T-the fox just asked me something.” The blush had nearly disappeared from his face, a pink tinge still dusted Brian’s cheek. The cyborg hummed and looked away.

They sat in silence once more, staring at the towering school. Brock never really took the time to look at it. It was built from some sort of white stone that reflected light, making the entire place look as bright as the sun. The many roofs were a sapphire color, the tips holding up flags with blurry symbols engraved on them (maybe the school had a symbol he didn’t know of). Huge windows covered every corner of it, showing the way to the forest that surrounded the entire hill. It was tall, large, and grand as a presidential building. Brock felt lucky he was able to be here.

“Do you think we should go back soon?” Moo asked.

“Yeah. Nogla’s probably wondering where I am now,” Brian stretched his back, disturbing the sleeping deer in his lap. She made another noise, stood up, and licked his face. “I tink this deer really likes me. She won’t leave me alone.”

“That could be a sign of a possible familiar,” Brock mentioned. “Or it could just mean she really likes you.” He giggled, bopping the deer on the nose. The doe looked over at him, blinking slowly, but didn’t say anything.

Brian practically lit up at the notion. “That would be amazin’! Then I could get a cool glow up like you!” Brock raised an eyebrow as Brian started rambling off about it. “I’ll get red streaks in my hair, have some cool looking necklace and get some white little whatever’s in my eyes.” The words descended into unintelligible excited murmurs. It was pretty adorable to watch.

Moo just shook his head before standing up, moving the vixen out of his lap. “Well, I’m going back to my room. I hope your brother enjoys the flowers.” He smiled and waved as he left Brian in the meadow, leaving a trail of hot pink cyclamen behind him.

The cyborg waited until he was out of range to pick the flowers Moo left for him. He quickly organized it into a nice bouquet, making sure not even a leaf was out of place. Brian smiled at the flowers, remembering how he used to do this as a kid, making weird little gifts for David. The ravenette always blushed as he accepted them, day after day.

 _He’ll probably turn rose red when I give him these._ Brian thought, standing. The doe stood with him, pushing her cold nose into his free hand, licking his fingers. He giggled and made his way out of the meadow.

(~-~)

He jogged through the warm halls of the school, giddy as ever, humming a quiet Irish tune. Others watched his jog by with his bouquet of strange flowers, wondering who they could possibly be for that would make the handsome cyborg so happy. Little did they know, it was for his brother.

Brian knew that at this time, David was usually tinkering away with whatever he could find, or, working on a new upgrade for his mech parts, a habit he found him doing just after classes ended. He probably had many ideas swirling around in his head during classes that were only able to come out after classes ended.

But who knows? He wasn’t a mechanical genius.

He approached the door to their room, seeing the childhood photo once again. He had seen it many times before, but never really _looked_ at it. He and his brother were sitting in the grass, smiling broadly at the camera his father held. Their knees were dirty and scuffed, presumably from all the running around they had done. Brian didn’t remember exactly what they were doing, but he knew they had fallen down in the spring green grass, laughing and giggling, when their father came over to take a picture. Even though it was taken before color photos, David had managed to implement that feature into their camera, which made his parents extremely proud (of course they loved both their children equally).

The memory made his heart swell.

Terroriser briefly shook his head before busting the door open. “Nogla, I’m back!” He shouted, startling the ravenette. He was holding onto a little gadget that looked like some type of alien tech from Mars. When Brian came in, he held it closed to his chest, looking a bit nervous

“O-oh, hey Brine. What’cha got there?” Nogla motioned to the bouquet

The stutter didn’t go over his head, but he decided not to mention it. “Flowers… for you.” The small smile on his face grew as he watched his little brother’s pale cheeks slowly turn a rosy pink. Nogla turned his head slightly, looking up at Brian through dark eyelashes.

“Fer me? Why?”

“To tank you of course!” He stepped over the scattered metal and plopped down beside Nogla.

The ravenette looked exasperated. “Again?”

Brian stuck out his tongue. “Yes, _again._ Ye saved my life, it’s the least I could do.” He shoved the flowers into Nogla’s chest, making the younger boy sneeze as he grabbed them. The little gizmo fell out of his hand.

“...What kind of flowers are these?” David quietly asked, playing with some of the petals.

“Pink roses and… proteas I think.”

“What te fock’re proteas?” Nogla mumbled, staring down at the flowers with a concentrated expression. “They sound like some mech part fer a robot.”

“I don’t know, but apparently they’re te flower of bravery or somethin’.” Brian scratched his head. “And te pink roses mean gratitude, appreciation and… admiration.” He mumbled the last part quietly.

“...admiration? Why admiration?”

“Well duh, because I admire ye! Why else would I give ye flowers?” He leaned over to look into his brother’s pink face, giving him an inquisitive look. Nogla just turned away, murmuring something. Brian smiled and wrapped an arm around his little brother, pulling him in for a gentle hug. Fluffy black hair flopped into his face as he kissed the top of David's head.

“I love ye, David. I hope ye know that.”

The ravenette chuckled. “Yeah, I know. I love ye too, Brine.” He returned the hug, leaning into the touch.

(~-~)

Brock was flopped onto his bed. The empty silence made his erratic heartbeat seem louder in his ears, filling the room. His mind was wandering aimlessly, never lingering on one thought for too long, flashing to the next over and over again.

Brian’s face kept coming up in his head. His perfect body, his amazing, pearl white smile, and his beautiful eye. Brock covered his blushing face with his hand, turning on his side.

 _God, I’m such a mess. Is this what it’s like to be in love?_ He peeked through his fingers, watching the dust particles float gently in the sunbeams. His eyes glanced up at the hummingbird resting peacefully on the flower, his long, javelin-like beak resting under his small wing. Brock wished he could relax like that. The problem was, with all that was happening, his mind was in too much of an anxious buzz. Brian, Ash disappearing, his mom.

His mother. She had almost completely slipped his mind. She’d probably be here by tomorrow night. God, that was too soon. Too soon would he know what was the inevitable danger coming to torment him.

Brock sighed, turning over. He decided to just sleep and try not to worry.

Easier said than done.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was short for a reason. A lot of exposition, I know, but the action really is coming up soon (like in two chapters)


	7. Transition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little fluff just before the juicy stuff comes into play :3

That night, Brian lay awake in his bed. His mind was still a flutter with the event of that day. In just fifteen minutes, he found out his crush as the son of a _goddess,_ that goddess was coming to this school in just a few days, and she would be choosing a group of students to train _herself._ How could anyone sleep with that running through their mind?

The gentle moonlight streamed through the window, casting a blue glow across the room. The light shined on his mech eye, making the polished metal shine with luster. Brian sighed, closing his eye. He was just about to relax when he heard something on his left.

He had noticed that Nogla was moving around a lot on his bed, but thought nothing of it. That is, until he heard a quiet sob come from his side. If he listened close enough, he could hear hitched breathing and sniffles, accompanied with occasional sobs. It wasn’t hard in the silent room.

“David?” He whispered, sitting up on his bed. The sounds stopped, and David’s figure stopped moving. “Are ye okay over there?”

There was a moment of silence, before the ravenette sat up and turned around. Brian saw the tears glistening on his face under the light of the moon and the pained expression on his face.

“A nightmare?” Nogla nodded slightly. “Aw. C’mere.” He beckoned his brother over, lifting his covers to invite him in. He watched as his little brother slowly came out from under his own covers and slinked over to Brian’s bed, slipping under his brother’s covers. Terroriser brought him close, snuggling him into his chest. He could feel the vibrations coming from David as he cried into his shirt, hanging on for dear life.

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. It's okay,” He whispered softly, rubbing soothing circles into his brother’s back. “If ye don’t mind, could ye tell me what it was about?”

Nogla sniffed and leaned up to look at him. His green eyes sparkled in the light. “I-it was about us… when we were younger. About what happened in the forest,” He sighed and wiped his wet eyes. “I watched ye _die_ Brine. Right in front’a me. I… it’s just hard to imagine where I would be without ye.”

Brian chuckled, smiling. “Heh. It’s weird to think you're the one having these nightmares. I’m the one who almost died.”

“I know. I just can’t help but

“Then don’t. It’s not yer fault, and it never will be. I wouldn’t even be alive if it weren’t for ye,” He took David’s face in his hands, staring intensely into his glistening chocolate eyes. “I want you to remember that, okay?” Nogla smiled and nodded, hugging Brian close.

“We should get some sleep. Mother Nature’s gonna be comin’ soon, and we gotta be at our best,” he kissed the top of Nogla’s head and snuggled his face into the dark locks.

“Goodnight, David.”

“G’night, Brian.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How parent wish sibling act lol
> 
> And yeah I posted at 12:54 AM, wat’s gud?


End file.
